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As recently demonstrated again, this time in central Italy, earthquakes are unpredictable and very dangerous.
Here along the San Andreas fault, residents of Portola Valley, Woodside and the nearby unincorporated areas can participate in a two-hour neighborhood drill set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 1, in local neighborhoods. The drill’s sponsor is the Citizens Emergency Response Preparedness Program, or CERPP.
The evening will include disaster scenarios, with signs meant to simulate damage and injuries along the streets. There will be exercises in first-aid, the use of two-way radios, and communicating with town staff and the Woodside Fire Protection District, according to a CERPP bulletin.
“Managing the exercise at night will be fun, assuming nothing untoward happens, and adds a level of complexity to the drill,” CERPP member Jeanne Schapp said in an e-mail.
Estimates from the U.S. Geological Survey’s Web site show a 62 percent chance of a strong quake in the Bay Area over the next 30 years, one that would kill a minimum of 5,800 people if it struck during working hours, according to a damage-estimate model from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The FEMA model shows such a quake leaving at least 16,000 Bay Area homes uninhabitable. The Association of Bay Area Governments raises that to 150,000 homes in a repeat of the magnitude 7.9 quake in 1906.
For more information on CERPP and this drill, go to www.cerpp.org or write to Bill Tagg at billtagg@sbcglobal.net.
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