Living in the Pacific Northwest has many advantages. Being far far away from an active fault line is not one of them. Natural disaster can take many forms. But a significant Cascadia 'megathrust' earthquake is at the top of the list.
The Cascadia Subduction Zone off the coast of North America spans from northern California to southern British Columbia. This subduction zone can produce earthquakes as large as magnitude 9 and corresponding tsunamis.
The 1964 Alaskan earthquake occurred at 5:36 PM AST on Good Friday, March 27. Lasting four minutes and thirty-eight seconds, the magnitude 9.2 megathrust earthquake was the most powerful recorded in North American history, and the second most powerful recorded in world history. 600 miles of fault ruptured at once, and moved up to 60 feet vertically. Soil liquefaction, fissures, landslides, and other ground failures caused major structural damage. Ocean floor shifts created large tsunamis up to 220 feet in height.
The last major earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone occurred in 1700. Scientists have estimated that this quake was approximately 600 miles in length and the plates slipped about 60 feet. Based on this, what happened in Alaska in 1964 could surely happen here. And with a much greater poplulation, the disruption will be much greater.
Check out this story for insight into what may happen on the North Olympic Peninsula.
Within the county, there are at least 20 'micro-islands' (lettered on the map). They are sections of the County that as a result of a major earthquake if the bridges go down, these sections will become micro-islands with no vehicle access in or out and thus cut off.
This leads us to the DART program. Enlisting and training volunteer general aviation pilots, aircraft and support staff will enable the ability to get people and supplies in and out of the area until military and other aircraft arrive in the predicted 2 to 4 weeks time following such a regional event.
In response to a cataclysmic event which degrades regional surface transportation, local pilots and their aircraft can provide volunteer emergency airlift services to benefit their surrounding communities.
The DART is a volunteer airlift resource available to help communities and emergency responders cope with a local disaster. Pilots do what they already know how to do – fly from one place to another and give people or things a ride.
DART air transportation services can include:
The movement of displaced individuals, ambulatory medical patients, and emergency personel.
Importing of food, medicine and other supplies of a critical nature.
Aerial inspection and assessment of infrastructure that would not be possible from the ground.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 13 marked the opening of the new operations center.
The center was donated for the team’s use through a joint cooperative Memorandum of Understanding between Clallam County Emergency Management Department and the Port of Port Angeles, which operates the airport.
Clallam County DART is the first DART in Washington state.
Ten pilots and eight ground crew participated in a Clallam County Disaster Airlift Response Team (DART) training exercise packing, weighing, loading and delivering more than 4,000 pounds of donated food and water to five airports on the Peninsula from which it would be distributed to local food banks.
Emergency-response exercises like Saturday’s prepare DART’s all-volunteer team for the after effects of a natural disaster that could wipe out roads and bridges, shut down land line and cell phone communications and create medical crises.
A huge landslide that took out SR 112 between Sekiu and Clallam Bay has not only closed traffic, but is contributing to a water outage for the Sekiu Community.
Clallam County Emergency Management, which is operating under a state of emergency declared Monday by County Commissioners, says volunteers and their aircraft from the Disaster Airlift Response Team (or DART), State of Washington and PUD are all working to get water to that community.
The Disaster Airlift Response Team (DART) hosted an exercise Sept. 21, 2019 that took the coordination of 50 local volunteers, 25 pilots and 29 separate flights to transport food and other necessities collected in Kitsap and Clallam counties, Walla Walla, Anacortes and Bellingham.
DART is made of volunteer general aviation pilots and ground personel who use their time to aid in the event of an emergency. DART pilots and ground personel are trained to respond to earthquakes and other disasters to bring in food, medical and other supplies to areas impacted by catastrophic events when state and federal resources are not available.
Peninsula Daily News article introducing the Clallam County DART program to the community
An Interview with Alan Barnard
The First adopted DART in Washington State.
The Clallam County Disaster Airlift Response Team, "DART", gathered at William R. Fairchild International Airport in Port Angeles on Sept. 15, 2018 for it's first full scale practice for emergency operations.
The "cargo" transported was non-perishable food donated by the Bellingham Fred Meyer and Saar’s in Port Angeles and was distributed to the Peninsula Food Coalition to benefit local food banks.
The Clallam Co. DART was activated for the first time for a mission when it was asked to take aerial photos of the crash site of a logging helicopter accident.
The DART was organized with large disasters in mind such as a Cascadia level earthquake. But it is also well suited to provide aerial assets for other needs around the region like this mission, flooding and other kinds of assistance to Emergency Management.
As Aviation Coordinator for Clallam County Emergency Management, Alan Barnard started designing his own volunteer pilot’s disaster response because there were none that he could find around the country from which to pull information.
After 1 ½ years’ work, Barnard had to abandon the idea because of a state requirement that volunteer pilots be search-and-rescue-certified to operate in controlled airspace after a natural disaster.
Then early in 2017 the local Emergency Management Program Manager introduced Alan to the Cal-Pilots DART/DARP program shown to her by
Sky Terry from EVAC
That was the piece Barnard was looking for.
Adapting the Cal Pilot's plan to fit Clallam County and enlisting volunteers consumed the rest of 2017.
On January 30 2018, the Board of Clallam County Commissioners approved the Disaster Airlift Response Plan (DARP/DART) annexation into the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan.
CC DART is a volunteer group.
The challenge now is making it work.
If you have a desire to be a part of the solution and the DART mission is appealing to you, reach out and contact us.
We would love to hear from you.
