Unfortunately, what we’ve learned over the past few years is that it is “when” not “if” you will face a new and very stressful change in your world. For Seattle the most frequent problem will be smoke from forest wildfires. Then there’s various reasons we could locally lose power or water service at out homes. And, of course, a major earthquake is overdue. We are now hearing that the shallow Seattle fault may be even more destructive here than the Cascadia Subduction fault, so that is two strikes we have against us.
It is not just protecting your own family, but are you able to help your community prepare or recover? Across Seattle there are a number of neighborhood organizations called “Emergency Communication Hubs” that have taken on the role of helping neighbors help neighbors immediately after a major disaster, when communications might be down and emergency services overwhelmed. This Sunday, they are getting out in the field in 10 locations across Seattle to practice. Oh, and notice that the pictures were all taken during the last exercise at the height of the pandemic.
On June 11, between 1:30pm and 4pm, volunteers will be participating in “Power Down”, a disaster drill to test neighborhood emergency preparedness. The Emergency Communication Hubs will work with the City’s Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) ham radio volunteers to simulate response to a city-wide power outage. They are encouraging visitors to come, participate and learn – the public is essential to test the system the Hubs have in place and you will have a chance to learn more about what you can do.
Failure of our electrical grid not only results in loss of electrical power but would also impact our water and sewer capacity. “A massive power outage will shake us in ways that will surprise us. We will relearn the importance of neighbors and community.” said Ann Forrest, one of the drill organizers. “Emergency Communication Hubs are organized neighbors who practice supporting their community after a distressing event. They gather to share information – and resources or skills – to help our neighbors get their basic needs met.”
Here is what you might observe or learn if you stop by –
Learn how the Hubs operate.
Find your role in a disaster – community resilience is key.
Get information on how to deal with power losses.
Observe how radio communications will be essential in a major power-out disaster.
Help by becoming an “actor” to read a script and giving the Hub volunteers a problem to work.
This will be the only such exercise in 2024! There are a total of ten sites where the Hub volunteers are practicing responding. The nearest ones to Wallingford are
Ravenna-Eckstein Park (6535 Ravenna Ave NE)
– meet near the basketball court, South end of the Park
Hub volunteer’s website and email ([email protected])
Ballard Commons Park (5701 22nd Ave NW)
– Meet in the NW corner
Hub volunteer’s email ([email protected])
You can find the other sites on this map
For more information visit the emergency hubs website
If you would be interested in helping build up a Wallingford emergency preparedness team, to operated an emergency hub and to educate our neighbors and emergency preparedness, send an email to [email protected]. Let’s get together and help Wallingford become resilient.
If you would like to attend a virtual training about disaster preparedness, check out the City’s Office of Emergency Management classes calendar.