Update No.2: Theresa, the Hub captain and Red Cross representative at Saturday’s drill, has posted photos here.
Update 5/20: Here’s a report from the field.
About 35 people participated in the Maple Leaf drill, including nine on the radio team. John Parnell, coordinator, reports:
We were able to contact all parts of the Maple Leaf area, although we a few coverage problems in the spot by the freeway and Thornton Creek. We had several folks drive around and call us from as far away as Green Lake and Shoreline. We also relayed all the transmissions from Wedgwood Hub to the Emergency Operating Center. We were assigned to the role of NE Coordinating Hub.
We DID get a high quality group that did show up: nurses, hams, radio technicians even a few firefighters. For the next drill, we need to start earlier and approach more organizations, including churches, fraternal groups as well as the Maple Leaf Community Council.
Want to know more? Email k7hv@arrl.net or emergencyprep@mapleleafcommunity.org
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A small forest of antennas has sprung up in the northeast corner of Maple Leaf Reservoir Park.
It’s the emergency communications drill, running from now until noon.
The scenario: Terrorist hackers have shut down the power grid. Phone service, including 911 dispatch, is out. Cell phones don’t work. How to communicate?
Stop by the drill and find out!
Similar exercises are being conducted in Broadview, Wedgwood, Wallingford, Green Lake, Queen Anne and Magnolia.
Oh, and let me repeat: This is ONLY a drill.
The Maple Leaf team is communicating with other neighborhoods, including Wedgwood. A sign from Wedgwood is below.
This is good stuff.
The grid is a fragile thing and a scenario such as this is not unreasonable.
How are you prepared for such an event if you are at work? What if it’s 5pm on a Wednesday and you work 45 minutes (by car) from home? How will you communicate with your family?
How are you going to get home? Drive? In a situation like this how long do you think it will take you to drive home? What if this happens in January?
Are you prepared for someone to steal your car? Your gas? Because, yes, there are evil people in this world. Are you prepared to take two days to get home from South Seattle? From Everett?
Think about what else goes down with the power grid. Food distribution centers can’t get food to the grocery stores. Their trucks can’t fill up with fuel and drive the food here. Gas stations can’t get gas for your car. Your heat / AC goes off.
It’s good to see this brought up and planned for and I hope this opens some eyes to those that think disaster only happen in New Orleans.
Yes definitely positive.
Good idea to the people who organized it.
I see this as a positive thing. We practice looking out for each other and functioning as a helpful community. I hope we teach our children that the world is sometimes unpredictable, but it is important to know how to deal with the world in a positive, supportive way.
How sad…we practice living in fear… I hope we tell our children what a dangerous evil world we live in