By Peggy Sturdivant

With her roof in danger of collapse from the fourth New England blizzard in a row my mom called because she was worried about me in Ballard. A family friend in Boise who works for the State of Idaho told her they were working on an emergency plan for when the Seattle area has its megathrust earthquake. My mom wanted to make sure I knew about the threat.

That phone call took place before the earthquake in Nepal, and some relatively small seismic events in Idaho and California over the last two weeks. As someone who was cut off by blizzards should certainly realize, earthquakes aren’t the only emergency we could face. The goal, wherever we live, should be our preparedness. Which is why we are fortunate to have the volunteer group Ballard Prepares.

We can thank the Girl Scout motto instilled in community members like Cheryl Dyers. She happens to be the Loyal Heights Hub Captain for Ballard Prepares, but describes herself as just one of the many, many volunteers who are part of Seattle’s 50 Emergency Community Hubs.

I first met Dyers at the Groundswell NW Annual Meeting and then for coffee so that she could tell me about an upcoming citywide field exercise on May 9, 2015, “A Dark and Stormy Night in Seattle,” (with its own hashtag: #darkandstormy2015).

Despite the literature Dyers shared, I was confused by my SNAP versus my ACS/Hub. Seattle Neighborhoods Actively Prepare (SNAP) is part of the City of Seattle’s Office of Emergency Management. Auxiliary Communication Services (ACS) works with the hubs that connect the neighborhoods. “With neighborhoods as spokes in the wheel,” Dyer explained to me. Blocks or neighborhoods have hubs that are the closest to them. The hubs are within sectors; of which there are seven in Seattle.

The event on May 9th is a chance to practice and test the skills of emergency preparedness groups, assisted by amateur radio communications teams. They need citizens to participate, as “citizen actors” and hub volunteers. Without such drills (or such volunteers), how can groups really practice, and how can we learn what to do to survive?

The scenario of last year’s drill was a volcanic explosion and lahar. This year will be a twofer: an imagined earthquake before sunset, with a storm approaching as night falls. The Ballard locations will be Shilshole, Ballard Commons, Kirke Park and Loyal Heights Playfield will host the Ballard events Volunteers are encouraged to drop in throughout the early evening. This is the first time they’ve run a night drill.

“What we really want is for people to come out and become emergent volunteers,” Dyer said. She had already told me that being prepared “three days, three ways” is no longer enough. In the event of a disaster, such as earthquake or tsunami or any others, residents need to be prepared to take care of themselves for a week. For Ballard, help might be able to come from the north, but otherwise we could be cut off by water; bridges may be gone.

A retired Special Ed teacher and Ballard resident since 1987, Dyers admits she really wants her neighborhood to prove its resilience (as in survive). Which means having a plan and supplies within each household and with immediate neighbors, and being aware of the hub’s function. The hub is not an emergency shelter, but will operate as communications center to collect and provide information, relaying updates between hubs, and with the city’s emergency operations.

I know I should be prepared for any emergency, but if preparing for an earthquake helps me prepare for other disasters it cannot be a bad thing. There is a great deal of information available but rarely a chance for a practice run on an emergency for the everyday citizen. Think of May 9th as a chance to survive a disaster and get thee to a hub. As Dyers said, “If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your children.”

www.seattleemergencyhubs.org

To contact Peggy email her at peggy@peggysturdivant.com