Sam Fletcher reports from the Island County Commissioners’ workshop of Wed., Feb. 14, 2024 for the Whidbey News-Times.
An earthquake along the southern Whidbey Island fault zone means a maximum scenario of 7.4 magnitude on the Mercalli scale. This means cracking infrastructure, objects flying from walls and every standing person sideways, clasping ears and crawling for cover, and 2,000 to 6,000 people injured. In this situation, Island County will face more severe damage than that by the Cascadia Subduction Zone.
The Island County Department of Emergency Management discussed the county’s response to such a disaster during a “tabletop simulation exercise” with the county commissioners Wednesday. The discussion focused on communication methods and facility assessments. As time was cut short, the topic will likely be picked up at a later date.
They Said It
After the Cascadia Subduction Zone quake and perhaps even the South Whidbey quake, surrounding counties are going to be overwhelmed and state resources will be there, said Commissioner Melanie Bacon.
While facilities must be assessed for county employees to return to work to fix disasters across the county, this is a secondary concern, said Commissioner Jill Johnson. Personal safety comes first.
“I only care about assessing buildings enough to know if people are in or out,” she said.
The media response to lack of fire personnel during the 2023 Maui wildfires angered Johnson, she said, as firefighters’ houses were burning with their families inside.
“The expectation is they are firefighters first and humans second,” she said.
Another important aspect is the jail, Johnson said. County employees have evacuation routes, meeting points and plans of action — but who is getting the inmates out of the building?
“I feel confident we can assess our facilities,” she said. “I need to feel confident we can make sure our inmates are safe.”
