Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Thirteenth District

Date: May 18, 2006
Contact: Ron Oberg
(503) 742-5911

TSUNAMI EXERCISE BEGINS MAY 23

SEATTLE -  The U.S. Department of Transportation in cooperation with Federal, State, local, and Canadian partners will host PACIFIC PERIL 06 from 23-25 May 2006 at Camp Rilea on the NW Oregon Coast. The three-day event will consist of a "training day" presenting earthquake and tsunami hazards and response plans, a full day Command Post Exercise (CPX) and a final table top review.  The exercise play postulates a catastrophic seismic event that triggers a massive tsunami that devastates Pacific coastal communities from British Columbia to northern California.  The Government of Canada, including the Province of British Columbia and the City of Vancouver, are also engaged in exercise play.  
 
"Experts agree that the likelihood of a massive earthquake and tsunami wave is very real, and speak in terms of not if, but when," according to Federal Aviation Administration Regional Administrator and Regional Emergency Transportation Coordinator (RETCO) Douglas R. Murphy. "The exercise is designed to challenge participants with a high consequence scenario in order to better assess the effectiveness of existing response plans.  Our critical infrastructure is vulnerable, and advance preparation is the key to a successful response."
 
U.S. Department of Homeland Security FEMA Regional Director John Pennington agrees.

"Emergency incidents are handled on a daily basis at the local level, but the challenges of responding to truly catastrophic disasters rapidly exceed the capabilities of any one community or state," said Pennington.  "In any disaster, coordination, planning, and unity of response are the key determinates of success. Exercises like PACIFIC PERIL help us validate, correct and improve our joint response capabilities."

The goals of PACIFIC PERIL 06 are to improve the region's capacity to manage extreme events; create broader frameworks for the operation of expert crisis and consequence management systems; validate authorities, strategies, plans, policies, procedures, and protocols; and test the effectiveness of state, federal and local government coordination in responding to catastrophic transportation system disruptions.

Participating agencies include U.S. Departments of Transportation, Homeland Security and Defense, the United States Coast Guard, the states of California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, as well as federal and provincial agencies from Canada.

FEMA manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
 

May 23 media schedule

0800-0830         WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS - WARRIOR HALL (BLDG. 7022)
 
0830-0930         THE THREAT - WARRIOR HALL
                        ▪ Cascadia Subduction Zone Presentation
                        ▪ Tsunami Presentation
                        ▪ Tsunami Warning System
 
0930-0945         BREAK
 
0945-1045         COUNTY LEVEL RESPONSE - WARRIOR HALL
                        ▪ County Emergency Response Plans 
                        ▪ Unified Command
                        ▪ Continuity of Government
 

1045-1145         RESCUE PREPAREDNESS AND DISCUSSION - DEMONSTRATION SITE
                        ▪ U.S. COAST GUARD RESCUE HELICOPTER AND COMMUNICATIONS
                        ▪ RED CROSS PREPAREDNESS OVERVIEW - FIRST AID, EMERGENCY KITS,
                          VOLUNTEER COORDINATION
 

1145-1330         LUNCH AND PREPAREDNESS PLANNING - WARRIOR HALL 
                        ▪ REPRESENTATIVE JAMES BUCK, WASHINGTON STATE
 
1330                                ADJOURN

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