Pacific County Emergency Management Agency to participate in Cascadia Rising

The Pacific County Emergency Management Agency has a long history of advocating for individual and community preparedness and endeavoring to educate the residents of Pacific County on how to prepare for a major disaster such as, a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and subsequent tsunami. In June, PCEMA will participate in a Functional Exercise to gauge the agency’s level of preparedness and its ability to support a response to such an event. A functional exercise differs from a full scale exercise, in that, during a full-scale exercise there are actual “boots on the ground” carrying out specific missions.

The Cascadia Rising Functional Exercise, which will be conducted June 7-10, will give the Pacific County Emergency Management Agency the opportunity to evaluate its ability to coordinate a response to a Cascadia Subduction Zone event. Individuals from nearly every branch of Pacific County Government will staff the Emergency Operations Center in South Bend on June 8 and June 9 and will coordinate with response partners from all over Pacific County, as well as the National Guard, the Washington State Emergency Management Division, various military, and the United States Coast Guard. On June 7 and on June 10, the Pacific County EOC will operate with PCEMA staff only to support operations in other agencies and areas.

Communication will be supported by the Pacific County RACES, a robust group of amateur radio operators that may be able to establish communications when all traditional methods of communication have failed. Not only is this group capable of establishing communication with civil authorities around the state, they have also been developing an ability to communicate directly with the military. The RACES group has proven to be an invaluable part of the PCEMA team.

For more information contact Scott McDougall, Deputy Director smcdougall@co.pacific.wa.us.