Cascadia tsunami evacuees leave all behind
BRIAN WALKER/Press Rachel Irish, who works for Kootenai County's Office of Emergency Management, checks out updates of the West Coast tsunami during an emergency operations center drill on Thursday at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office.
BRIAN WALKER/Press The emergency operations center at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office is divided into several specialty cells, including management, public information, planning, logistics and legal services.
LOREN BENOIT/Hagadone News Network Volunteer Shauna Miller, right, of the Medical Reserve Corps, comforts Audrey Hammons at her bed at a medical needs shelter at the fairgrounds on Thursday for evacuees of the fictional tsunami and earthquake disaster that devastated the West Coast.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Mandi Nelson of SouthEastern Idaho Public Health Region 6 sets up an Army cot on Thursday at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds in Coeur d'Alene.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Emergency personnel set up 50 beds at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds for fictional evacuees.
BRIAN WALKER/Press Stu Miller, left, and Andy Boyle, both of the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office, work in the emergency operations center at the KCSO on Thursday.
BRIAN WALKER/Press Dan Ryan, left, of Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, looks over the shoulders of Kimberly Hobson, deputy public information officer, and Jim Lyon, chief PIO, as a press release is prepared at the emergency operations center at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office on Thursday.
BRIAN WALKER/Press Vanessa Hanson, a public information officer, marks where emergency shelters will be set up during Thursday's emergency operations center drill at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office.
Editor’s note: This story is not real.
The earthquake and tsunami didn’t happen — not yet, anyway. But experts say it’s only a matter of time until Cascadia Fault sets off a disaster of historic proportions on the coast that will also have a dramatic impact throughout the Northwest, including North Idaho.
Numerous agencies are responding to the fictional disaster in region-wide training exercises. The Hagadone News Network is treating these exercises as an actual news event to try to relay the importance of efficient and effective response.
By BRIAN WALKER
Hagadone News Network
COEUR d'ALENE — Audrey Hammons wept as she recounted evacuating her Seattle assisted living facility due to the earthquake and tsunami that has devastated the West Coast.
Hammons, who is battling Lou Gehrig's disease, was among about 40 seniors who arrived at a medical needs shelter on Thursday afternoon at the Kootenai County Fairgrounds after a six-hour bus ride to Coeur d'Alene.
"I'm so scared and don't have my wheelchair," she said. "I'm in pain."
Hammons said she had to leave all of her belongings behind — including her medications — as she was unexpectedly rushed to a bus.
Hammons said she didn't see any of the destruction because she was whisked from the senior facility so rapidly.
"It all happened so fast," she said. "A lot of us were just put on the bus, and that's all I really remember."
Tuesday's earthquake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, was centered 95 miles east of Eugene, Ore. It caused a tsunami that has crippled the coast from northern California to British Columbia. About 13,000 people have died.
Government officials on Thursday released the latest estimated number of evacuees expected to arrive in Kootenai County at 40,000 and in Idaho 140,000. Bonner County officials estimated 3,000 evacuees would be arriving there by Thursday night, while 750 were estimated for Boundary County.
The influx of people to the area has wreaked havoc on local resources as scattered power and cellphone outages have been reported across the region. A team of ham radio operators is assisting with communication during the crisis due to cellphone problems.
The crisis is also causing heavy traffic on local roads and lines at gas stations and grocery stores as some local residents fear the influx could cause fuel and food shortages.
"Please do not travel unless needed, fuel supplies are limited," an Office of Emergency Management press release states.
Most local hotels are booked up and have increased their rates by 50 percent.
"People are looking for shelter for their pets and sleeping in cars," said Sandy Von Behren, Kootenai County's OEM director.
An estimated one million people on the coast have been displaced.
There are almost no working hospitals west of Interstate 5. It may be months before areas on the coast have power again and it may take up to a week for some residents to have power back here.
About 40 percent of the police and fire stations on the coast have been destroyed, and roughly half of the bridges have either been damaged or knocked out.
No aftershocks or damage have been reported in Idaho.
The catastrophe was caused by the rupturing of the 700-mile Cascadia Subduction Zone.
The zone averages a quake every 300 to 500 years. The last one prior to this occurred 316 years ago.
The emergency operations center (EOC) at the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office was activated on Thursday morning to coordinate relief services.
"Having enough shelter, food and water is our priority," said Jim Lyon, public information chief at the center, adding that the Idaho Army National Guard is assisting in that effort. "We want to direct people to the shelters whenever possible so we don't overwhelm our local hospitals."
Most Idaho counties, along with the states of Washington, Oregon and California, have declared a state of emergency.
Hundreds of local volunteers are staffing relief operations ranging from the EOC to the medical needs shelter organized by the Panhandle Health District and the general population shelter at the fairgrounds organized by the American Red Cross. There is also a section at the fairgrounds dedicated to pet care.
Melanie Collett, public information officer at the shelters, said the medical needs shelter is for people with non-acute medical conditions, but require medical assistance beyond what is available at the adjacent Red Cross shelter.
Hammons said she's thankful for the help.
"Everybody here has been so nice, but I don't know when I'll be able to go home," she said. "I feel lost."
While sitting beside Hammons, Shauna Miller, a volunteer with the Medical Reserve Corps, said she wanted to be a part of the relief efforts due to the magnitude of the crisis. The tsunami was comparable to the one that hit Japan in 2011 when nearly 16,000 people were killed.
"Sometimes people just need comforted," she said. "They're having emotional distress, and it's important that their needs are met."