PORT ANGELES — Three Cascadia disaster preparedness talks will be held in Sunland in the coming weeks, including a new lecture by former state Rep. Jim Buck on his recent trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.
The presentations will be Thursday, March 29, April 5 and April 11 at the Sunland Golf & Country Club ballroom, 109 Hilltop Drive, Sequim.
Here is the schedule for the Sunland series as announced by Clallam County Fire District No. 3:
• 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 29 — Cascadia Subduction Zone Earthquake: The Threat to Clallam County.
Fire District 3 Assistant Chief Dan Orr, Disaster Planner Blaine Zechenelly and Buck of Joyce Emergency Planning and Prep (JEPP) will discuss local impacts of a magnitude 9.0 Cascadia earthquake.
Emergency planners say Clallam County will be isolated for weeks because bridges will collapse and roads will fail, creating dozens of micro-islands on the North Olympic Peninsula.
The earthquake will shake the ground violently for about five minutes and trigger a 30- to 40-foot tsunami, according to the lecture.
Based on the geological record and written accounts from Japan, the last major Cascadia quake occurred Jan. 26, 1700.
Geologists say it is not a matter of if but when the next big one strikes the 600-mile-long subduction zone off the Northwest Coast.
• 6:30 p.m. April 5 — Ends of the Earth: Comparison of Cascadia Quake in Clallam County and Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico.
Last month, Buck and his wife, Donna, traveled through Puerto Rico meeting with local residents and government officials who were still struggling five months after the Category 5 hurricane ravaged the island.
Local government effectively collapsed after the storm, forcing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to re-establish its functions, Buck observed.
The new program will focus on lessons learned from Puerto Rico that apply to Cascadia.
• 6:30 p.m. April 11 — 30 Days on Your Own: Camping in Your House.
Emergency planners say it could take a month for emergency supplies to arrive in Clallam County after a Cascadia quake.
Camping in Your House provides tips on how to assess structural damage and make repairs to your home and covers day-to-day essentials such as food, water and sanitation.
The first Camping in Your House lecture drew an overflow crowd of nearly 400 at the Port Angeles library.
“The ballroom at Sunland’s clubhouse holds 300 and we hope for a full house at each presentation,” CCFD3 Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Coordinator Cindy Zechenelly said in a Wednesday email.
For information on disaster preparation, contact emergency management offices in Clallam County at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-CEM and in Jefferson County at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-JEM.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsula dailynews.com.
