All hands will be on deck in the Pierce County Council office on Wednesday, Oct. 21, for the council's portion of a two-day countywide disaster drill simulating a magnitude-7.1 earthquake in the South Sound area.
"We're taking this exercise very seriously, and we hope our entire Pierce County family does the same," said Council Chair Roger Bush, who also chairs the council's Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness. "An earthquake is the event most likely to cause widespread damage and disruption in our region, so it makes sense that we have a well-rehearsed plan in place to deal with such an event."
All seven councilmembers, their assistants, and council staff will attend a special study session in the Council Chambers at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 21. The meeting will allow the council to exercise the communications protocol within its Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) which, among other things, outlines how councilmembers communicate and assemble in an emergency. It also establishes a line of succession if the County Executive or the council's leaders are unable to perform their duties.
The council adopted its COOP in April 2006 (resolution R2006-45) and substantially revised it this year. The COOP stipulates that the council should be able to resume essential operations within 12 hours of any incident and sustain those operations for 30 days.
As part of the plan, equipment not requiring electricity - such as a manual typewriter and carbon paper, as well as the council's official stamps and other office basics - are stored in the council office and at three alternate locations if the council is forced from its chambers in Tacoma's County-City Building.
Conducted Oct. 21 and 22, the "Shake and Quake" exercise includes more than 500 participants from 50 agencies throughout Pierce County on its first day. The second day will focus on area hospitals and schools (read the original Pierce County news release here).
CONTACT: Brad Chatfield, Council Communications Manager, 253-798-6626
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