Public Safety Insider: Coachella Valley at center of earthquake drill
Aug 18, 2012
Emergency managers across the state simulated a 7.8-magnitude earthquake last Monday — and their disaster scenario focused squarely on the Coachella Valley.
In the exercise, they assumed the earthquake hit along the San Andreas fault line and major roadways such as Interstate 10 were devastated.
Power and water supplies were knocked out for millions of people, and hospitals were inundated with thousands of injured people. The California Emergency Management Agency — the state organization that coordinates responses to major disasters and helps local government prepare — was rehearsing for the real thing.
"While we certainly don't have a crystal ball, we do hear that a large scale earthquake — 7.0, 8.0 — is predicted to come in our lifetime, the next 30 years," Nancy Ward, region IX administrator for Federal Emergency Management Agency, said.
Many basic questions still need answers, Cal EMA says: Where do people go if they can't get home or if their house is ruined? Where do the wounded go?
"But anytime we can prepare, anytime we can exercise, the general public should feel comforted that we are trying to do whatever we can to prepare ourselves," Ward said.
Cal EMA recorded a short video that it calls a "rare inside look at what these practices are like and what they mean for keeping the state of California safe during a catastrophe."Helpful message
When the nearly 3,000-acre Buck fire broke out on Tuesday, smoke blanketed the Coachella Valley. And the Palm Springs Fire Department swiftly called residents to let them know they were OK.
"There is currently a wild land fire near Hemet. This will cause drifting smoke or the odor of smoke to come over the San Jacinto Mountain into Coachella Valley. There is no threat to the City of Palm Springs," an automated voice told residents.The city used Code RED, a mass notification system that sends emergency information and instructions to residents via phone calls and emails. It's the same system that Palm Springs used in December to issue an alert about a 78-year-old man who'd gone missing. It was a subscriber who found him. To subscribe to the free emergency alerts or find information, visit www.pspd.com and click on "Code RED" on the left.
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