“Here it comes,” said Dale Kloes, program coordinator at the Skagit County Department of Emergency Management.
The Army National Guard and emergency response groups were taking part in an exercise in which boxes marked as medical supplies were being delivered in response to a devastating earthquake.
The exercise was part of a weeklong interagency earthquake response training in the Pacific Northwest. The training, called Cascadia Rising, aims to prepare emergency officials to respond to a magnitude 9 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami, a disaster officials say may be inevitable here.
The exercise at the Anacortes Airport was straightforward.
“The purpose is to distribute goods if the roads aren’t working,” said Kloes. “There’s a good chance the roads aren’t going to be working if we have a magnitude 9 earthquake. The I-5 corridor would be a parking lot.”
Kloes, who helped organize local participation, was joined by officials from Island Hospital, the Swinomish Police Department, Amateur Radio Emergency Services and the Community Emergency Response Team.
After landing, crew members from the helicopter carried empty cardboard boxes labeled “medical supplies” to officials from each of the groups. After delivering the boxes and posing for a few photos, the crew boarded the helicopter again and took off, headed for a refueling stop in Bellingham.
In all, it took about five minutes. Over the course of the day, the helicopter made stops in Snohomish, Island, Whatcom and San Juan counties.
Island Hospital Emergency Preparedness Coordinator Nina Mead was on hand to receive one of the mock medical supply shipments.
“This was the first time I’ve been involved with something like this,” Mead said. “We talk about how supplies would come in but this is a great opportunity to see how to actually receive them.”
Michael Willup with the Swinomish Police Department was also on hand, grabbing mock supplies for the tribe. He said the exercise was impressive.
“It’s not every day you get to see a helicopter land, especially a Blackhawk,” Willup said.
Kloes said during a real disaster emergency response officials would transport the supplies to distribution sites, where locals could pick up items.
He said it was good practice.
“This is going to be for real at some point,” Kloes said.
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©2016 the Skagit Valley Herald (Mount Vernon, Wash.)
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