San Benito immersed in hazard mitigation process through
spring
A recent earthquake awareness meeting hosted by the San Benito
County Office of Emergency Services placed an emphasis on preparing
for the unpredictability of disasters.
”
We can’t remove all risk or make things not happen, but we can
lessen those risks,
”
said James Clark, the emergency services manager for San Benito
County.
San Benito immersed in hazard mitigation process through spring
A recent earthquake awareness meeting hosted by the San Benito County Office of Emergency Services placed an emphasis on preparing for the unpredictability of disasters.
“We can’t remove all risk or make things not happen, but we can lessen those risks,” said James Clark, the emergency services manager for San Benito County.
While the San Benito Office of Emergency Services works on a hazard mitigation plan, the Bay Area Urban Security Initiative has a grant to complete a regional catastrophic preparedness plan that will incorporate the needs, risks and resources of 12 Bay Area counties and three cities.
Clark, his staff and other agencies have been working closely with Janice Rogala, a project manager from Dimensions Unlimited, on a local hazard mitigation plan.
A hazard mitigation plan has two potential benefits for the county and local residents. It is required by law and it’s “a big risk if [a county] is not in compliance,” said Rogala.
Areas that are out of compliance will not always receive state-funded disaster recovery money.
The other benefit is that there are grant programs available to prepare against some disasters for areas with a hazard mitigation plan in place.
One of the early steps in the process was a hazard mitigation and preparedness questionnaire that Clark’s staff gave out to local residents. The questionnaire gave residents a chance to pinpoint the disasters they were concerned about and places or landmarks they would most want protected. Residents can still fill out the form at the Office of Emergency Services, 451 Fourth St., in Hollister.
Rogala said most of the threats concerning residents line up with the actual risks in the region.
“We are looking at things like the major disasters like earthquake, flood and fire,” Rogala said. “But we are also looking at hazardous materials, utility-loss risk.”
Part of the process, also, is looking at what services such as hospitals, schools or other agencies may be affected.
“Earthquake is the one most on minds,” she said.
Earthquake awareness
At the earthquake awareness meeting Dec. 1, a geologist from the United States Geological Survey talked about San Benito’s unique fault characteristics, as well as the impact of the 1906 earthquake on the region. About a dozen residents showed up to the meeting, including some in volved with the hazard mitigation plan process.
Jack Boatwright, the geologist, talked about the many faults that cross the Bay Area, including the San Andreas and Calaveras faults that run through San Benito. Boatwright and a colleague created what are called Shake Maps, which show the intensity of shaking projected out from an earthquake’s epicenter. At the USGS Web site, a shake map shows the intensity measured by seismometers placed around the region. But visitors who felt a temblor can also post how intense the shaking felt to them, which helps the geologists better understand the intensity of quakes.
Boatwright recreated a shake map of the 1906 earthquake based on written historical records, research at cemeteries and other sources. An anomaly was found in southern San Benito County, where there seems to be a hole in the intensity of the quake.
“There were plenty of people living in San Benito County and La Cienega, in these areas, and the reports were very eloquent,” Boatwright said.
Scientists are still trying to understand it, but Boatwright said one way they know the shaking was sleight is that at the time milk was delivered to houses early in the morning and poured into shallow saucers. Residents reported that the milk had not spilled.
“In places where the milk wasn’t spilled, the shaking is intensity 5 or less,” he said. “In San Juan Bautista itself, there was relatively little damage done. An adobe wall and one or two chimneys were reported.”
Hollister was hit harder, with reports of masonry chimneys coming down. The City of Hollister is in an alluvial basin, which can amplify the shaking.
Though there hasn’t been a history of high-intensity earthquakes in San Benito County, there are frequent quakes below 3.0. Boatwright said that quakes don’t always follow the probability that scientists come up with based on historic records.
“The Northridge [quake in 1994] was one that was on no one’s map,” he said.
Regional hazard plan in the works
The unpredictability of a large quake is one of the reasons behind the local hazard mitigation plan as well as a regional catastrophic preparedness plan that is in the works.
Steven Lubeski, a senior emergency management planner with URS Corporation, is one of many consultants working with the regional catastrophic preparedness plans. He is focused on San Benito County.
Through the program, an earthquake the size of the 1906 quake has been modeled using Federal Emergency Management Agency software to see where damage is likely to occur. Different soil types, buildings and other features were programmed in to simulate the geography and landmarks in the Bay Area.
“Part of what we are doing is four plans – one mass-transportation and evacuation, one mass-fatality and one debris removal,” Lubeski said. “We are working with experts to discuss how locally they would respond. There is also a regional layer with the Bay Area UASI meeting as a steering committee and people such as myself are embedded in San Benito County.”
Funding for the project is through a FEMA grant, and other metropolitan areas are undergoing a similar process to prepare for potential disaster.
Lubeski said the UASIs were formed originally as a response to Sept. 11, but since Hurricane Katrina hit they have been refocused on both man-made and natural disasters, such as an earthquake.
“We are looking at building resiliency,” Lubeski said. “Certainly the number one threat [in the Bay Area] is a natural disaster and it is a major earthquake.”
The final regional catastrophic plan is expected to be released in March.
“Kind of the mentality behind all of this training has been to protect, prevent, respond and recover,” Lubeski said. “There is no way to prevent [a quake], but you can certainly protect against it. Find out what buildings are vulnerable, disaster aid, look at emergency operations.”
The ultimate goal once the plans are completed is continued training that would include table-top discussions and full-scale drills where you have “boots to the ground and people in the field,” Lubeski said. “It makes it as useable as possible because you’ve already done the what ifs.”
Lubeski said one thing he has seen in San Benito County is a lot of passion and commitment to preparedness planning.
“San Benito County is very progressive,” he said. “They are really doing well in terms of having their priorities in order in updating these plans, bringing in the right people to make sure it is shared and collaborated.”
For questions on the San Benito County hazard mitigation planning or to fill out a hazard mitigation and preparedness questionnaire, visit the Office of Emergency Services at 451 Fourth St., in Hollister or call 636-4080.
