A day after local emergency responders and community members discussed how they would respond in the first three days after a catastrophic earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the Army and Air National Guard on Thursday rehearsed their response in the days after the last rumbles subside.
Specifically, troops roved through Western Washington looking for places to land helicopters and airplanes in order to bring food and water to stranded residents.
“We’re looking for farmers’ fields,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Brian Rikstad, of the Army National Guard. “What they’re really using us for is to make our way through the rubble.”
In the event of a major disaster, Rikstad’s cavalry reconnaissance squad would make its way through heavily damaged areas, reporting what it sees to headquarters.
“With that information, we’re able to bring in the big … planes and transports that are going to bring in food and water,” he said.
About two dozen members of the Army and Air National Guard gathered Thursday to practice landing a UH-60 helicopter in a field south of the Southwest Washington Fairgrounds. Both exercises were a part of the week-long Cascadia Rising exercise, coordinated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is designed to plan emergency responses to a predicted 9.0 magnitude quake affecting western portions of Washington, Oregon, California and British Columbia.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone stretches 800 miles from California to British Columbia. Earthquakes have historically occurred along the fault every 200 to 500 years, with the last major earthquake occurring about 300 years ago, according to FEMA.
Agencies throughout the region conducted exercises under a scenario of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter off the coast of Oregon.
“Think of it as a pre-planned operation. You plan it and you put in on a shelf,” said Staff Sgt. Jimmy Takach, of the Air National Guard.
Sometime down the line, when an actual disaster occurs, leaders can take the plan off the shelf and use it to inform their response, he said. That doesn’t mean everything will go according to plan.
“It’s going to be a hodgepodge,” Takach said.
While the National Guard conducts regular exercises around the country to prepare for natural disasters, Lt. Col. Chris Blanco, of the Army National Guard, said this exercise particularly gives the troops “proof of principle” of their skills.
“Being able to train in an environment like this is really important,” he said. “ … It’s kind of neat the whole state is united in this effort.”
In the event of a catastrophic earthquake, National Guard members would be expected to report to their posts in three to five days, Rikstad said, after they’ve taken care of their own families.
“My job starts in my community,” he said.
After that, reconnaissance squads will move through damaged areas sending information back to headquarters, which will be in Spokane, outside the radius of the earthquake’s damage.
“They’re trying to get out in the community,” Rikstad said. “That’s how you start calming the community down.”
Takach said civilians can expect the scale of damage and aftermath to be similar to that of Hurricane Katrina.
“There’s no cellphones, there’s no power, there’s no running water, there’s no running sewage,” he said.
He said people should expect looters and general disorder following a large-scale disaster in an urban area.
Officers said people in rural areas will likely be more resilient after a disaster.
Residents should consider stockpiling water and non-perishable food, and rotating their stock to ensure freshness, Takach said. People can also take part in Community Emergency Response Team training to prepare for disaster response of any kind.
Most importantly, Takach said, people need to remember that help will come.
“You’re not alone in this thing,” he said.
