Seattle’s “Water System” Before/After an Earthquake
This is UPDATED information you will want to hear.
Wednesday, Nov 13 at 7pm
Virtual (Zoom)
Discussion with Eric Autry, Emergency Management, Seattle Public Utilities
Register HERE to receive the Zoom link – and a class reminder.
This class will be recorded and posted to YouTube.
Other News
Below you will find our top stories as they occurred. To learn more about what we do and how we plan to help our community after a major disaster, please see our mission statement and explore the resources we offer, such as:
Calendar: We do training, skill-building events, and disaster practice sessions across the city. You’re invited!
Emergency NeighborLink Map: Find the Hub closest to your home or workplace. To join an active Hub, click on the Hub icon to find the local Hub Captain’s contact info.
Blog: You’ll find our latest announcements and the sign-up sheets for volunteering at an event.
Resources: How to prepare your household, whether in a house, apartment, or condo; How to organize your nearby neighborhood; How to create a Hub, the tools we use at a Hub, and the “Urban Survival Skills” demonstrated at our fairs; and much more….
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Getting “Rumble Ready” – June 2024!
Many thanks to everyone who participated in our June drills! Thirteen Hubs “stood up” to practice their skills and educate neighbors about the Hub system. (The scenario was a 6.8 magnitude earthquake along the Seattle Fault line.) Volunteers sharpened their processes in preparation for the drill and their hard work was evident. Competition around which Hub could make the most matches between community “haves” and “needs” was fierce. Congrats to the Ballard Commons and Madison Valley Hubs! Strong work! But honestly, every community that participated is MUCH CLOSER to being ready to support themselves post-disaster. With every step, we are closer to being “Ready to Rumble”.
Our sixth Self-Help poster has been finalized… “Medications & Medical Equipment“. The purpose of this poster is to educate our neighbors “after a disaster” on ways to stay safe and handle their medication and medical equipment needs. Designed to print on 8.5″ x 11″ paper but we scaled them up to 18″ x 24″ without losing quality. Contact us with questions… Info@SeattleEmergencyHubs.org
We’re working to get this newest poster translated into Seattle’s top tier languages…
Self Help Posters now available in 13 languages
Self Help Posters were created by Hub volunteers to be used at the Hubs as a tool to help people immediately after a major disaster. In those first few days when information will be hard to get, these posters remind people of basic information so they can stay safe. There are 5 posters for the following topics: Communication, Food Safety, Water Safety, Hazards and Sanitation. Links are below to print complete sets by language, size is set to print 8 1/2 x 11.
This simulated, all-city power outage “disaster practice” is hosted by Seattle’s Emergency Communication Hubs and the Auxiliary Communication Service.
“Urban Survival Skills Fair”
Learn skills that are helpful in a disaster. Shutting off natural gas to your home, communicating with loved ones, working with neighbors to meet basic needs, and much more! Don’t miss it! EVERYONE is Welcome! Fun for the entire family!
Saturday, Oct 15th
10am to Noon
Broadview Thomson K-8, 13052 Greenwood Ave. N (98133)
“Disaster Practice”
Learn how a Community can respond to a large-scale disaster using their Emergency Communication Hub. EVERYONE is Welcome! Fun for the entire family!
Saturday, Oct 15th
2pm to 4pm
Victory Heights Park/Playground, 1737 NE 106th Street (98125)
BONUS! Practice sending a message to loved ones out-of-the-area letting them know you are okay – over Ham radio waves.
What’s happening in 2022?
2022 is becoming a year for reconnecting. With the COVID restrictions lifting but new variants in the air, we are mostly sticking to outdoor activities. Hubs all across the city are working at outreach tables at local events and Farmers Markets to reacquaint neighbors with the Hub concept and helping them find their closest Hub location. Other Hubs are holding mini field exercises or show-and-tell events, where Hub volunteers get all their gear out and practice helping neighbors to get the rust off their skills. Some Hubs are hosting Urban Survival Skills Fairs, where everyone, public and Hub volunteers alike, can visit a number of tables to learn new skills that will help after a major disaster.
Check out our calendar to find the event closest to you. If you’d like to volunteer, we keep a running list of upcoming activities on our Blog page. We hope to see you at an event in 2022!
The weather is warming!
We’re anxious to get out in the field and practice how we would respond if Seattle were to experience a strong earthquake. Hub Drills are SO informative and very fun! Stand by. Details coming soon…
Hub Field Exercises in Sept 2021
“Double-Trouble” is a Win-Win-Win
Feeling pummeled by the pandemic? Try tackling a different type of disaster! Seattle’s Emergency Communication Hubs are responding to simulated earthquakes on two different Saturdays in September. The “Double Trouble” exercise will run from 9am to 1pm on September 18th and again on the 25th. Hub Volunteers need YOU to make this exercise successful. They need practice responding to the overwhelming requests for help that are likely after the “big one” hits. Everyone benefits from these drills. Volunteers get better at supporting their communities, the public learns what the Hubs can and cannot do, and the overall system gets stronger. Win Win Win.
Details:
Show up for either, or both, simulated earthquake events. Saturday, Sept 18th, from 9am to 1pm we’ll be on the north side of town – at the Maple Leaf Playground. Saturday, Sept 25th, from 9am to 1pm we’ll be on the south side of town – Jefferson Park, west of the tennis courts. Come when you can and stay for as long as you like. Getting involved is easy. Once you arrive you will become an actor for us; you will be handed a piece of paper with a situation written on it and see if the Hub can help you . The situation will be something that could realistically happen after a large earthquake. Your household needs drinking water. Your pet is lost. The gas station just caught fire but 9-1-1 is overwhelmed. Your participation will help Hub volunteers improve their skills and adapt their processes. Participating in the exercise is valuable for you as well because you will learn SO much about what to expect if Seattle were to have a large earthquake. Please attend either, or both, Saturdays. More information can be found on the Hub calendar or by contacting Info@SeattleEmergencyHubs.org or by calling (360) 550-2234 or (206) 933-6968.
“What is A Hub?” video released!
We are so pleased to announce a new and updated video to help you understand what a Seattle Emergency Communication Hub is and how it operates. You’ll learn what we do, how we operate and also key steps for you to be prepared as residents of Seattle.
2020 Hub Network Year End Report
While 2020 was such a year, we were amazed when we looked back to create our year-end report. We have two full pages of activities, with many major accomplishments and while almost all the in-person training stopped due to Covid-19, we still did plenty of virtual training. Take a look here and thank you to all the Hub Captains and Hub volunteers who continued to support Hub Network activities in such a difficult year.
2020 Ends With A Jolt!
Four King County based earthquakes between Christmas and New year’s, plus one off the coast of Oregon! That is a reminder of the major hazard in Seattle – earthquakes. And it can be a reminder for you to take advantage of the jolt to do some preparedness work. Use the New Year’s resolutions as an opportunity to either complete your preparedness bag or, if you already have one ready to go, check it and replenish any out-of-date stock. It would be reassuring to start the New Year with some of your preparedness steps completed. Another idea, with Christmas over, is to resolve to give future birthday presents of useful preparedness items. Everyone loves an all in one tool!
2020 was such an …. interesting year – we don’t want to have another one like it, but be sure you are ready for anything that 2021 throws at us.
Hub Network Go Fund Me Campaign
UPDATE: The campaign is now closed, and we met and passed our target of $5,500 with the wonderful amount of $6,077!!! We thank everyone who contributed and look forward to continuing our work over the next two years without the worry of raising funds to pay for our operating costs.
THANK YOU for your continued interest in the Seattle Emergency Communications Hubs. Despite the lack of community gatherings, it’s been busy around here! As COVID and other societal forces consume everyone’s attention, we have been forced to reevaluate our path moving forward. We continue to focus on skill training and education of our existing hubs and we are determined to increase our outreach to communities of color, to non-English speakers, and to those with accessibility or economic challenges. This has been an exciting time as we navigate new paths and learn how to reach out to all communities with sensitivity. More on that in the near future but for now, we are turning to the community for support.
As you probably know, the Hub Network is an ALL-VOLUNTEER force dedicated to helping Seattle communities prepare for a disaster. We work closely with City of Seattle officials, are incorporated into the response plan, but choose to remain independent of formal city control. This allows us to remain nimble and respond to our communities as the unique entities that they are. Currently, we have nearly 60 Emergency Communication Hubs throughout Seattle where trained neighbors will gather to help organize and support their communities after a large disaster. Hub Volunteers have shouldered our operating expenses for fourteen years. For the first time ever, we are asking our supporters to cover our expenses for the next two years as we migrate to a more sustainable business model. It isn’t a large amount – $5,500. Our network costs include website maintenance, videoconferencing capabilities, translation services to engage more Seattle residents, and multi-language printed materials such as how-to manuals, outreach materials, essential forms, and self-help posters. $5,500 will cover us for the next two years. Any funds raised in excess of this amount will enable us to increase our outreach to the communities that will be most impacted by a disaster. Thank you for considering a donation!
https://gf.me/u/yp8d8t Please share our GoFundMe campaign with family and friends and post on your social media outlets!
COVID -19 and the Hubs
Whew! Hubs normally only activate when all normal communications are down after a disaster but the current national emergency has had us thinking 180° different. Standing up a local gathering place – while practicing social distancing – isn’t wise but how can we help?
On March 11, Hub Captains across Seattle held a virtual meeting to talk about our role. We came out prepared to utilize our preparedness / organizational skills to assist in the virtual environment.
Here’s what we have put our collective talents towards:
We contacted NextDoor to ask that they create a map so neighbors willing to help could identify themselves (similar to their trick-or-treating map). While we waited for their response, we stood up tools for neighborhood areas online where neighbors willing to help could register their offer (based on a model developed in West Seattle). This program was rolled out but was replaced several days later when Next Door introduced their “Help Map”. So that fixed the easy option but that only helps people who are signed up for Next Door. We started talking with Hub members to find out what their communities were doing at the hyper-local level.
We’ve been tracking several websites that help with the matching of offers of help to neighbors who need help. In particular, two sites have opened that are templated off a national model called Recovers.org. Recovers.org was developed for use after a major natural disaster, such as a hurricane or earthquake, but the tools are exactly the same as needed for the COVID response. To date, one site is open for West Seattle and a second one for the area around the Homer Harris Hub. Communities in South Park and Green Lake are doing this same work in different formats – and we’ll probably see more as the pandemic lingers on.
We met with the Mayor and Department Heads (virtually) to discuss community response. We’re pleased to report that several of our suggestions have been implemented. We continue to work with several City departments, in particular the Department of Neighborhoods, to get information out to our communities (several Hubs have very active Facebook pages) and to funnel issues back to City personnel to be addressed.
We join the weekly Friday Seattle City Community Briefing webinar where Department Heads brief the community on the work the city is doing for the response and covers the support available through the city.
All of this information is important but even more important is what everyone is doing to keep our community together in this unprecedented time. We encourage you to connect with your community in a useful way during this time. Whether you can make masks, go grocery shopping, do something creative for kids online, or cheer up a neighbor with a phone call. All of us have the ability to do something positive for others.
Community Based information sites
Updated as of April 5, 2020 (tell us if you know of any ones we missed!)
City of Seattle one-stop-shop for COVID-19 information (includes links to orgs like United Way under “I want to donate/volunteer”)
Greater Green Lake Help (Primarily Ravenna, Northgate, Mapleleaf, Green Lake, Phinney Ridge, Licton Springs, Greenwood & Roosevelt) http://www.gglhelp.com
Self Help Posters were created by Hub volunteers to be used at the Hubs as a tool to help people immediately after a major disaster. In those first few days when information will be hard to get, these posters remind people of basic information so they can stay safe. There are 5 posters for the following topics: Communication, Food Safety, Water Safety, Hazards and Sanitation. Hopefully people can take this information back to their neighbors and share as well.
While the posters were designed for use after a disaster, we found that they are also a great teaching tool, to think about being prepared beforehand. Nothing like looking at how you’ll be bagging poo to motivate you to make sure there are garbage bags in your disaster kit! These posters also serve as a reminder that, if your home is safe, you’ll probably be basically be camping in your home if all the utilities are out. As we have been showing these posters around getting comments for the final version, we found a lot of interest from businesses and places of worship to have a set so they could use as a teaching tool as well. These posters are downloadable and please share with anyone you think would find them helpful!
Reports from the 14 hubs who were active in the June 1 “Seattle’s Fault” earthquake Field Exercise are that it went really well, with good participation and new lessons learned. We are in the process of creating our After Action Reports from the 14 hubs who participated and collecting pictures. Meanwhile, you can view this news report on the Exercise, from KING 5 News!
Here is the link to the interactive map of participating hubs
Save the date – 2019 City wide Hub Field Exercise – Saturday, June 1, 9:00 to noon
Time to take a break for the big Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake; let’s have a Seattle Fault earthquake instead!
Each year, we get out in the field and set up hubs across the city as practice locations. Our volunteers get experience out in the real weather and work hands on to perform the functions of a hub. If you would like to train to help your community respond in the event of a major disaster, this is the exercise for you. We want to practice our on-the-job training of volunteers during the exercise, so this is the event for you!
We are also putting out the call for “community actors” – anyone who can stop by for an hour or so to read short message scripts which put the hub to work. Drop in anytime, we’ll need actors to appear during the entire 3 hours.
The list of Hubs who will be participating in the 2019 field exercise will be finalized in early May, so please check back to see which hub is closest to you that you can help at.
The Seattle Emergency Communications Hubs had a very successful year; lots of outreach, a very instructive field exercise, several new hubs and we made some great partnership connections. Here are the highlights and a link to the full report
Major Accomplishments
Hub Leadership Retreat held where goals for partnerships and outreach priorities set for 2018 – 2020. This working plan helps us focus on key partnerships to advance preparedness and discussion about community resilience.
Hub in A Box, 2018 Cycle – 15 boxes awarded as a result of a second round of funding from Seattle City Council, CM Lorena Gonzalez sponsored the $21,600 allocation.
Partnered with the Seattle Department of Health and Human Services to develop and print a 5 Poster set “Self Help after a Disaster” to be posted at hubs for post disaster tips, in beta test 2018 -19. We plan to make our final test drive at the June 1 drill.
Lake City Hub received a $5,000 Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund Grant to develop “Lake City Stops the Bleed”, to teach Stop the Bleed and Surviving an Active Shooter. By year end, 9 Stop the Bleed classes have been offered in Lake City and other neighborhoods.
As announced last spring, 13 hubs were awarded Hub in A Box grants and many of those were brand new hubs and who have now been added to our map. This brings the total of hubs in Seattle to 151.
New networked hubs in 2018 – Spring Street P-Patch, Hillman City P-Patch, Rainier Vista West, St John United Lutheran Church (Phinney), Magnuson Park, Windermere North Sand Point, Ballard P-Patch, Braeburn Condominiums, Haller Lake Community Club, Peace Lutheran Church (Gatewood), Volunteer Park Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Collectively, our network of hub captains and volunteers:
Held 13 local training and skill building events
Gave 10 presentations, including one to FEMA Region X
Hosted 21outreach tables
Worked on strengthening preparedness with partners:
Planning for joint outreach with Community Low Power FM radio stations
Working with AIA and SEAW to understand WASafe Building Inspectors Program (and sat in for part of ATC20 training)
Consultation with MBA grad students UW Foster School of Business for a Capstone Project on community power needs after a disaster
Discussion with Scott Zafram, FEMA Region X on lessons from Puerto Rico that the Hubs should know about
SHAG housing emergency preparedness planning discussion, for multiple facilities
Discussion with Ballard and West Seattle Food Banks for continuity of operations planning.
Hub-In-A-Box Grants Awarded!
Congratulations to the 15 groups who were awarded funds to establish a hub location in their neighborhoods. These funds were secured by the Seattle City Council, and are managed through the Department of Neighborhoods with assistance from the Office of Emergency Management and Parks and Recreation Department. The hubs are in the process of receiving their boxes and equipment, so if one of these is in your area, watch for announcements about future training and connecting activities. As each completes their set up, they will also be added to our interactive NeighborLink Map, so you can also reach out to them as well.
Ballard P-Patch (Ballard)
Braeburn Condos (Capitol Hill)
Daejeon Park Emergency Hub Committee (Central District)
Haller Lake Community Club (Haller Lake)
Hillman City P-Patch (Hillman City)
Magnuson Park Emergency Community Hub (Northeast Seattle)
MIQA Be Prepared (Magnolia)
Peace Lutheran Church (West Seattle)
Pigeon Point Emergency Communications Hub (Pigeon Point)
Rainier Vista Neighbors Prepared (Rainier Vista)
Seniors V Team Foundation (International District)
SNAP Garfield North (Central District)
John United Lutheran Church Hub (Phinney Ridge)
Volunteer Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Capitol Hill)
Windermere North Sand Point HUB (Northeast Seattle)
No Power, No Bars Field Exercise –
photo album to tell the story
Our 2018 spring field exercise became the setting for the scenario we all dread, a disaster happening on a cold and rainy day. But that was a good thing, we tested how our field set up did against the elements. We also discovered that huddling under tents improves communications, helps with self-heating and makes us wish we had more sidewalls. In all, it was a very successful drill; our communications with the city ACS team worked very well, they showed us the future of radio communications using digital devices. We had several new hubs out for their first drill and are documenting lessons learned from them and other hubs to share for improvement. We didn’t have as much community participation in the form of citizen actors or pass by traffic, but that might have been expected due to the weather. Here is a link to our photo album of participating hubs and ACS personnel. Enjoy and we’ll publish our After Action Review when everything is compiled.
2018 Hub Field Exercise Coming Up!
Hub-In-A-Box Grants Now Available
Thanks to the support of Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez and with the assistance of the Department of Neighborhoods, Parks and Office of Emergency Management, the 2018 Hub-in-A-Box Grant program is now open.
This program is offering up to $21,600 in funding to support Community Emergency Hubs throughout the city. This is enough to provide 14 groups with up to $1,500 to create their own Hub-in-a-Box.
A Hub-in-a-Box contains the essential materials and supplies your community would need in case of a disaster where help from the City or others is delayed or disrupted. They must be contained within a durable and secured storage box that is in a publicly accessible location.
What is a Community Emergency Hub?
Hubs serve as a central gathering place among neighbors in homes, apartments, condominiums, P-Patches, parks, or other community gathering spots, after a disaster to help each other.
They are organized and managed by local neighbors and serve to connect and help people when City and other resources are overwhelmed.
Hubs are a way to collect, coordinate and provide information on local situations, needs, and resources.
Emergency hubs also are a great way to encourage emergency preparedness in your neighborhood, or to connect with others and receive training on emergency preparedness.
Check out our tip sheet for information that can help guide new community hubs through the process of purchasing and installing a Hub-in-a-Box.
Completed applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. PST on Friday, April 13th, 2018. Applications can be submitted via email or in person to the address below. Please note, applications cannot be mailed in to the Office of Emergency Management or the Department of Neighborhoods.
Please drop off applications in person to Tim Wolfe, Community Investments Division Director, at:
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods 600 4th Ave, Floor 4 Seattle, WA 98104
It was nice to have a holiday break to wind up 2017 and now we begin our planning for an active 2018. Already there are events planned for February (see our calendar) and our full city drill date has been set for Saturday, April 28. Please see our latest newsletter for all the details. We also include our 2017 summary report of activities as part of the newsletter, and we hope you can join us for more of the same in 2018.
Our Fall 2017 Newsletter is out
Please click here to read our highlights for the fall, reflections on recent disasters and learn more about how you can train and get better prepared to help yourself, your family and your neighbors in a disaster.
Hubs win honorable mention
from FEMA
The Hub in a Box program was awarded a national Honorable Mention from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the category of Technology Innovation. Funded by the Seattle City Council at our request, theHub in a Boxprogram provides a small amount of money to directly purchase basic equipment that a hub uses to help a neighborhood level response after a disaster. This will allow neighbors to help neighbors while the city is coordinating the larger, city wide response. We were awarded $18,000 in 2016 and were able to provide equipment for 11 hub locations throughout the city, with an emphasis in neighborhoods that typically don’t have the money to front costs, as is typically done with the city’s existing Neighborhood Matching Fund program.
Hub and ACS drill – July 29, 2017 – Cascadia Rising II – Hubs and Spokes
Several hundred volunteers and neighbors joined together to practice in our last drill. It was a wonderful turn out and great practice session for the hubs. The 11 hubs who participated this year ranged from well-seasoned locations to several practicing for the first time. We had several specific objectives to work on this year, ranging from improving the flow of information through the hubs, testing our new Universal Graphics Communications Card and informational signs to managing a heavy radio traffic load. We are in the process of collecting feedback of successes and improvements, but everyone reports that the volunteers all learned something new and the spontaneous volunteers who step forward to help were fabulous! We thank everyone who helped make this drill possible, including our partners at the Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)
Here is the media coverage from the drill and in the week prior, and pictures from some of the hubs we’ve received so far. KOMO and Q-13 Fox also stopped by, but we haven’t seen anything posted yet.
High Point Hub Greeters with a young citizen actor
High Point Hub message takers and citizen actor
Hubs in Seattle P-Patch Gardens
This month, the Office of Emergency Management and Department of Neighborhoods announced that the concept of community based hubs is expanding to include the P-Patch Gardens in the City of Seattle.
Community Emergency Hubs are places where people gather after a disaster to help each other. Hubs serve as a central gathering place among neighbors in homes, apartments, and condominiums. They include spaces like the P-Patches, which are already natural gathering places. With the addition of the P-Patches, it means neighbors and community members now have about 150 pre-determined places in the City of Seattle to meet after disaster.
How do I find out where the hubs are?
The Seattle Office of Emergency Management (OEM) maintains a map of hub sites. There is also an independent, interactive Seattle Emergency NeighborLink Map where community members can connect with each other.”
The press release continues with some frequently asked questions about the P-Patch hubs as gathering places, you can read the full release here
We welcome the addition of additional community gathering places and hope the P-Patch gardeners will join us in practicing what to do should a major disaster happen in Seattle!
Looking forward to 2017 – Plans underway for a busy year!
We accomplished a lot in 2016, especial with the additional of 8 hubs and our Cascadia Rising drill. The Hub Captains are thinking about what will be the most beneficial activities and we have a great list going. Stay tuned for more details about the following.
Hub Captains meetings will continue on 4th Thursday of every month, 7:00 pm at the Discovery Park Environmental Center
A large – full city drill, People would like to continue to practice for earthquakes.
“In the field” or tabletop ideas: Surprise drill, scramble drill, vulnerable populations training and tabletop
Other activities and training
Hub mentoring (one on one);
Hubs 101 Open time where we cover paperwork, tabletop, equipment, full drill;
Radio information – what is the Auxiliary Communication Service (ACS) and how do they work, what is the connection to hubs.
Learn about the city’s response plans (especially valuable for new hub captains)
Mapping app – hands on practice session for input and extracting info
Outreach and engagement – new ideas and show and tell from other neighborhoods.
Be sure and check our Calendar and sign up for our Newsletter to find events you want to attend.
Disaster Relief Trials Bike Drill Alki Summer Greenways
Imagine the impact a nearby 8.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami would have on Seattle. Buildings collapsed, roads in shambles, people displaced, services disconnected. Without roads that are passable to vehicles, how do we provide essential services to injured and scared residents?
The Disaster Relief Trials is a fun, emergency preparedness event which mobilizes bicyclists to carry cargo representing emergency supplies to and from checkpoints, and this year, we had hub locations in West Seattle participating. Check out our video from the Morgan Junction Hub!
New video of Hubs in Action!
If you haven’t been able to be at a hub during one of our drills, here’s a look at what hub volunteers and doing and thinking as they prepare to help their communities. This was filmed during our June, 2016 Cascadia Rising drill at the Lake City Hub, so you get to see some experienced people in action.
This video was created by Bill Aston, who is a professional videographer and who graciously donated his time and talent to do this. He is passionate about people learning about preparedness and the importance of taking action, and we thank him for this gift.
Hubs continue to grow
Several new hubs have either signed up or are in the process of getting established. New this month are Hubs in Victory Heights and Eastlake, and watch for additions in Ravenna Bryant and University Heights. We’ve also had some additional SNAP groups put themselves on the map as well; don’t forget to pass the word to your local SNAP group who might not yet be on the map.
Drills, training, outreach tables, presentations; the Seattle Emergency Communications Hubs had a busy year! We end the year with 51 hubs on the map and about 10 more in the process of getting organized. Many of the individual hubs held special events and training and we made some great new partnerships. Please see our Hubs 2015 Year In Review Newsletter Edition for all the details and pictures to boot.
City of Seattle Releases New Tool Seattle Hazard Explorer
The Seattle Office of Emergency Management website now features and series of interactive maps that highlight some of the city’s top hazards. Check out the Seattle Hazard Explorer and learn more about the hazards that impact Seattle. You can zoom in on your home, work place, or any other location to see what hazards are most likely to impact you. Information videos and other content provide more in depth explanations of each of the hazards. Make sure you look out for links to important preparedness information as well! You can access the Seattle Hazard Explorer here: View the Seattle Hazard Explorer You can also access the Seattle Hazards Explorer by going to the “Hazards” section of the Office of Emergency Management website.
Western Washington 4.8 magnitude earthquake!
The strongest earthquake in the region for over a decade hit the Vancouver area on December 30th, 2015. This event has raised concerns with many Puget Sound residents about whether or not they are prepared for a disaster. So what do you need to put in an “emergency kit” to keep in your car, office and your home to prepare yourself for the worst scenario? Do you have a plan of communication worked out with your family and the children? If the roads were closed and fire or medical services were unable to reach you, what are your options? Lucky for us we live in Seattle and our local government and individual resident volunteers are already gearing up to save lives and make a disaster in our city and neighborhoods more survivable. Komo News covered the steps for Earthquake and Emergency Preparedness they interviewed the Seattle Emergency Hub Captains, Cindi Barker and Karen Berge, about their Volunteer activities as well as the Pacific Northwest Seismic Center. The Seattle Emergency Hubs organization is a volunteer group of residents who practice emergency drills and training exercises on a regular basis. They coordinate these activities with other volunteer groups such as SNAP, CERT, Block Watch and ACS as well as City Management and Emergency services.
The Pacific Northwest Seismic Center had the perfect opportunity to test out their new equipment with this latest quake. They hope to have a mobile app ready soon so that residents can be alerted of future quake activity. Even so much as a 20 second alert can save lives.
We’re anxious to get out in the field and practice how we would respond if Seattle were to experience a strong earthquake. Hub Drills are SO informative and very fun! Stand by. Details coming soon…
Hub Field Exercises in Sept 2021
“Double-Trouble” is a Win-Win-Win
Feeling pummeled by the pandemic? Try tackling a different type of disaster! Seattle’s Emergency Communication Hubs are responding to simulated earthquakes on two different Saturdays in September. The “Double Trouble” exercise will run from 9am to 1pm on September 18th and again on the 25th. Hub Volunteers need YOU to make this exercise successful. They need practice responding to the overwhelming requests for help that are likely after the “big one” hits. Everyone benefits from these drills. Volunteers get better at supporting their communities, the public learns what the Hubs can and cannot do, and the overall system gets stronger. Win Win Win.
Details:
Show up for either, or both, simulated earthquake events. Saturday, Sept 18th, from 9am to 1pm we’ll be on the north side of town – at the Maple Leaf Playground. Saturday, Sept 25th, from 9am to 1pm we’ll be on the south side of town – Jefferson Park, west of the tennis courts. Come when you can and stay for as long as you like. Getting involved is easy. Once you arrive you will become an actor for us; you will be handed a piece of paper with a situation written on it and see if the Hub can help you . The situation will be something that could realistically happen after a large earthquake. Your household needs drinking water. Your pet is lost. The gas station just caught fire but 9-1-1 is overwhelmed. Your participation will help Hub volunteers improve their skills and adapt their processes. Participating in the exercise is valuable for you as well because you will learn SO much about what to expect if Seattle were to have a large earthquake. Please attend either, or both, Saturdays. More information can be found on the Hub calendar or by contacting Info@SeattleEmergencyHubs.org or by calling (360) 550-2234 or (206) 933-6968.
We are so pleased to announce a new and updated video to help you understand what a Seattle Emergency Communication Hub is and how it operates. You’ll learn what we do, how we operate and also key steps for you to be prepared as residents of Seattle.
2020 Hub Network Year End Report
While 2020 was such a year, we were amazed when we looked back to create our year-end report. We have two full pages of activities, with many major accomplishments and while almost all the in-person training stopped due to Covid-19, we still did plenty of virtual training. Take a look here and thank you to all the Hub Captains and Hub volunteers who continued to support Hub Network activities in such a difficult year.
2020 Ends With A Jolt!
Four King County based earthquakes between Christmas and New year’s, plus one off the coast of Oregon! That is a reminder of the major hazard in Seattle – earthquakes. And it can be a reminder for you to take advantage of the jolt to do some preparedness work. Use the New Year’s resolutions as an opportunity to either complete your preparedness bag or, if you already have one ready to go, check it and replenish any out-of-date stock. It would be reassuring to start the New Year with some of your preparedness steps completed. Another idea, with Christmas over, is to resolve to give future birthday presents of useful preparedness items. Everyone loves an all in one tool!
2020 was such an …. interesting year – we don’t want to have another one like it, but be sure you are ready for anything that 2021 throws at us.
Hub Network Go Fund Me Campaign
UPDATE: The campaign is now closed, and we met and passed our target of $5,500 with the wonderful amount of $6,077!!! We thank everyone who contributed and look forward to continuing our work over the next two years without the worry of raising funds to pay for our operating costs.
THANK YOU for your continued interest in the Seattle Emergency Communications Hubs. Despite the lack of community gatherings, it’s been busy around here! As COVID and other societal forces consume everyone’s attention, we have been forced to reevaluate our path moving forward. We continue to focus on skill training and education of our existing hubs and we are determined to increase our outreach to communities of color, to non-English speakers, and to those with accessibility or economic challenges. This has been an exciting time as we navigate new paths and learn how to reach out to all communities with sensitivity. More on that in the near future but for now, we are turning to the community for support.
As you probably know, the Hub Network is an ALL-VOLUNTEER force dedicated to helping Seattle communities prepare for a disaster. We work closely with City of Seattle officials, are incorporated into the response plan, but choose to remain independent of formal city control. This allows us to remain nimble and respond to our communities as the unique entities that they are. Currently, we have nearly 60 Emergency Communication Hubs throughout Seattle where trained neighbors will gather to help organize and support their communities after a large disaster. Hub Volunteers have shouldered our operating expenses for fourteen years. For the first time ever, we are asking our supporters to cover our expenses for the next two years as we migrate to a more sustainable business model. It isn’t a large amount – $5,500. Our network costs include website maintenance, videoconferencing capabilities, translation services to engage more Seattle residents, and multi-language printed materials such as how-to manuals, outreach materials, essential forms, and self-help posters. $5,500 will cover us for the next two years. Any funds raised in excess of this amount will enable us to increase our outreach to the communities that will be most impacted by a disaster. Thank you for considering a donation!
https://gf.me/u/yp8d8t Please share our GoFundMe campaign with family and friends and post on your social media outlets!
COVID -19 and the Hubs
Whew! Hubs normally only activate when all normal communications are down after a disaster but the current national emergency has had us thinking 180° different. Standing up a local gathering place – while practicing social distancing – isn’t wise but how can we help?
On March 11, Hub Captains across Seattle held a virtual meeting to talk about our role. We came out prepared to utilize our preparedness / organizational skills to assist in the virtual environment.
Here’s what we have put our collective talents towards:
We contacted NextDoor to ask that they create a map so neighbors willing to help could identify themselves (similar to their trick-or-treating map). While we waited for their response, we stood up tools for neighborhood areas online where neighbors willing to help could register their offer (based on a model developed in West Seattle). This program was rolled out but was replaced several days later when Next Door introduced their “Help Map”. So that fixed the easy option but that only helps people who are signed up for Next Door. We started talking with Hub members to find out what their communities were doing at the hyper-local level.
We’ve been tracking several websites that help with the matching of offers of help to neighbors who need help. In particular, two sites have opened that are templated off a national model called Recovers.org. Recovers.org was developed for use after a major natural disaster, such as a hurricane or earthquake, but the tools are exactly the same as needed for the COVID response. To date, one site is open for West Seattle and a second one for the area around the Homer Harris Hub. Communities in South Park and Green Lake are doing this same work in different formats – and we’ll probably see more as the pandemic lingers on.
We met with the Mayor and Department Heads (virtually) to discuss community response. We’re pleased to report that several of our suggestions have been implemented. We continue to work with several City departments, in particular the Department of Neighborhoods, to get information out to our communities (several Hubs have very active Facebook pages) and to funnel issues back to City personnel to be addressed.
We join the weekly Friday Seattle City Community Briefing webinar where Department Heads brief the community on the work the city is doing for the response and covers the support available through the city.
All of this information is important but even more important is what everyone is doing to keep our community together in this unprecedented time. We encourage you to connect with your community in a useful way during this time. Whether you can make masks, go grocery shopping, do something creative for kids online, or cheer up a neighbor with a phone call. All of us have the ability to do something positive for others.
Community Based information sites
Updated as of April 5, 2020 (tell us if you know of any ones we missed!)
City of Seattle one-stop shopping for COVID-19 information (includes links to orgs like United Way under “I want to donate/volunteer”)
Greater Green Lake Help (Primarily Ravenna, Northgate, Mapleleaf, Green Lake, Phinney Ridge, Licton Springs, Greenwood & Roosevelt) http://www.gglhelp.com
Self Help Posters were created by Hub volunteers to be used at the Hubs as a tool to help people immediately after a major disaster. In those first few days when information will be hard to get, these posters remind people of basic information so they can stay safe. There are 5 posters for the following topics: Communication, Food Safety, Water Safety, Hazards and Sanitation. Hopefully people can take this information back to their neighbors and share as well.
While the posters were designed for use after a disaster, we found that they are also a great teaching tool, to think about being prepared beforehand. Nothing like looking at how you’ll be bagging poo to motivate you to make sure there are garbage bags in your disaster kit! These posters also serve as a reminder that, if your home is safe, you’ll probably be basically be camping in your home if all the utilities are out. As we have been showing these posters around getting comments for the final version, we found a lot of interest from businesses and places of worship to have a set so they could use as a teaching tool as well. These posters are downloadable and please share with anyone you think would find them helpful!
Reports from the 14 hubs who were active in the June 1 “Seattle’s Fault” earthquake Field Exercise are that it went really well, with good participation and new lessons learned. We are in the process of creating our After Action Reports from the 14 hubs who participated and collecting pictures. Meanwhile, you can view this news report on the Exercise, from KING 5 News!
Here is the link to the interactive map of participating hubs
Save the date – 2019 City wide Hub Field Exercise – Saturday, June 1, 9:00 to noon
Time to take a break for the big Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake; let’s have a Seattle Fault earthquake instead!
Each year, we get out in the field and set up hubs across the city as practice locations. Our volunteers get experience out in the real weather and work hands on to perform the functions of a hub. If you would like to train to help your community respond in the event of a major disaster, this is the exercise for you. We want to practice our on-the-job training of volunteers during the exercise, so this is the event for you!
We are also putting out the call for “community actors” – anyone who can stop by for an hour or so to read short message scripts which put the hub to work. Drop in anytime, we’ll need actors to appear during the entire 3 hours.
The list of Hubs who will be participating in the 2019 field exercise will be finalized in early May, so please check back to see which hub is closest to you that you can help at.
The Seattle Emergency Communications Hubs had a very successful year; lots of outreach, a very instructive field exercise, several new hubs and we made some great partnership connections. Here are the highlights and a link to the full report
Major Accomplishments
Hub Leadership Retreat held where goals for partnerships and outreach priorities set for 2018 – 2020. This working plan helps us focus on key partnerships to advance preparedness and discussion about community resilience.
Hub in A Box, 2018 Cycle – 15 boxes awarded as a result of a second round of funding from Seattle City Council, CM Lorena Gonzalez sponsored the $21,600 allocation.
Partnered with the Seattle Department of Health and Human Services to develop and print a 5 Poster set “Self Help after a Disaster” to be posted at hubs for post disaster tips, in beta test 2018 -19. We plan to make our final test drive at the June 1 drill.
Lake City Hub received a $5,000 Seattle Neighborhood Matching Fund Grant to develop “Lake City Stops the Bleed”, to teach Stop the Bleed and Surviving an Active Shooter. By year end, 9 Stop the Bleed classes have been offered in Lake City and other neighborhoods.
As announced last spring, 13 hubs were awarded Hub in A Box grants and many of those were brand new hubs and who have now been added to our map. This brings the total of hubs in Seattle to 151.
New networked hubs in 2018 – Spring Street P-Patch, Hillman City P-Patch, Rainier Vista West, St John United Lutheran Church (Phinney), Magnuson Park, Windermere North Sand Point, Ballard P-Patch, Braeburn Condominiums, Haller Lake Community Club, Peace Lutheran Church (Gatewood), Volunteer Park Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Collectively, our network of hub captains and volunteers:
Held 13 local training and skill building events
Gave 10 presentations, including one to FEMA Region X
Hosted 21outreach tables
Worked on strengthening preparedness with partners:
Planning for joint outreach with Community Low Power FM radio stations
Working with AIA and SEAW to understand WASafe Building Inspectors Program (and sat in for part of ATC20 training)
Consultation with MBA grad students UW Foster School of Business for a Capstone Project on community power needs after a disaster
Discussion with Scott Zafram, FEMA Region X on lessons from Puerto Rico that the Hubs should know about
SHAG housing emergency preparedness planning discussion, for multiple facilities
Discussion with Ballard and West Seattle Food Banks for continuity of operations planning.
Hub-In-A-Box Grants Awarded!
Congratulations to the 15 groups who were awarded funds to establish a hub location in their neighborhoods. These funds were secured by the Seattle City Council, and are managed through the Department of Neighborhoods with assistance from the Office of Emergency Management and Parks and Recreation Department. The hubs are in the process of receiving their boxes and equipment, so if one of these is in your area, watch for announcements about future training and connecting activities. As each completes their set up, they will also be added to our interactive NeighborLink Map, so you can also reach out to them as well.
Ballard P-Patch (Ballard)
Braeburn Condos (Capitol Hill)
Daejeon Park Emergency Hub Committee (Central District)
Haller Lake Community Club (Haller Lake)
Hillman City P-Patch (Hillman City)
Magnuson Park Emergency Community Hub (Northeast Seattle)
MIQA Be Prepared (Magnolia)
Peace Lutheran Church (West Seattle)
Pigeon Point Emergency Communications Hub (Pigeon Point)
Rainier Vista Neighbors Prepared (Rainier Vista)
Seniors V Team Foundation (International District)
SNAP Garfield North (Central District)
John United Lutheran Church Hub (Phinney Ridge)
Volunteer Park Seventh-Day Adventist Church (Capitol Hill)
Windermere North Sand Point HUB (Northeast Seattle)
No Power, No Bars Field Exercise –
photo album to tell the story
Our 2018 spring field exercise became the setting for the scenario we all dread, a disaster happening on a cold and rainy day. But that was a good thing, we tested how our field set up did against the elements. We also discovered that huddling under tents improves communications, helps with self-heating and makes us wish we had more sidewalls. In all, it was a very successful drill; our communications with the city ACS team worked very well, they showed us the future of radio communications using digital devices. We had several new hubs out for their first drill and are documenting lessons learned from them and other hubs to share for improvement. We didn’t have as much community participation in the form of citizen actors or pass by traffic, but that might have been expected due to the weather. Here is a link to our photo album of participating hubs and ACS personnel. Enjoy and we’ll publish our After Action Review when everything is compiled.
2018 Hub Field Exercise Coming Up!
Hub-In-A-Box Grants Now Available
Thanks to the support of Councilmember Lorena Gonzalez and with the assistance of the Department of Neighborhoods, Parks and Office of Emergency Management, the 2018 Hub-in-A-Box Grant program is now open.
This program is offering up to $21,600 in funding to support Community Emergency Hubs throughout the city. This is enough to provide 14 groups with up to $1,500 to create their own Hub-in-a-Box.
A Hub-in-a-Box contains the essential materials and supplies your community would need in case of a disaster where help from the City or others is delayed or disrupted. They must be contained within a durable and secured storage box that is in a publicly accessible location.
What is a Community Emergency Hub?
Hubs serve as a central gathering place among neighbors in homes, apartments, condominiums, P-Patches, parks, or other community gathering spots, after a disaster to help each other.
They are organized and managed by local neighbors and serve to connect and help people when City and other resources are overwhelmed.
Hubs are a way to collect, coordinate and provide information on local situations, needs, and resources.
Emergency hubs also are a great way to encourage emergency preparedness in your neighborhood, or to connect with others and receive training on emergency preparedness.
Check out our tip sheet for information that can help guide new community hubs through the process of purchasing and installing a Hub-in-a-Box.
Completed applications must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. PST on Friday, April 13th, 2018. Applications can be submitted via email or in person to the address below. Please note, applications cannot be mailed in to the Office of Emergency Management or the Department of Neighborhoods.
Please drop off applications in person to Tim Wolfe, Community Investments Division Director, at:
Seattle Department of Neighborhoods 600 4th Ave, Floor 4 Seattle, WA 98104
It was nice to have a holiday break to wind up 2017 and now we begin our planning for an active 2018. Already there are events planned for February (see our calendar) and our full city drill date has been set for Saturday, April 28. Please see our latest newsletter for all the details. We also include our 2017 summary report of activities as part of the newsletter, and we hope you can join us for more of the same in 2018.
Our Fall 2017 Newsletter is out
Please click here to read our highlights for the fall, reflections on recent disasters and learn more about how you can train and get better prepared to help yourself, your family and your neighbors in a disaster.
Hubs win honorable mention
from FEMA
The Hub in a Box program was awarded a national Honorable Mention from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the category of Technology Innovation. Funded by the Seattle City Council at our request, theHub in a Boxprogram provides a small amount of money to directly purchase basic equipment that a hub uses to help a neighborhood level response after a disaster. This will allow neighbors to help neighbors while the city is coordinating the larger, city wide response. We were awarded $18,000 in 2016 and were able to provide equipment for 11 hub locations throughout the city, with an emphasis in neighborhoods that typically don’t have the money to front costs, as is typically done with the city’s existing Neighborhood Matching Fund program.
Hub and ACS drill – July 29, 2017 – Cascadia Rising II – Hubs and Spokes
Several hundred volunteers and neighbors joined together to practice in our last drill. It was a wonderful turn out and great practice session for the hubs. The 11 hubs who participated this year ranged from well-seasoned locations to several practicing for the first time. We had several specific objectives to work on this year, ranging from improving the flow of information through the hubs, testing our new Universal Graphics Communications Card and informational signs to managing a heavy radio traffic load. We are in the process of collecting feedback of successes and improvements, but everyone reports that the volunteers all learned something new and the spontaneous volunteers who step forward to help were fabulous! We thank everyone who helped make this drill possible, including our partners at the Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)
Here is the media coverage from the drill and in the week prior, and pictures from some of the hubs we’ve received so far. KOMO and Q-13 Fox also stopped by, but we haven’t seen anything posted yet.
High Point Hub Greeters with a young citizen actor
High Point Hub message takers and citizen actor
Hubs in Seattle P-Patch Gardens
This month, the Office of Emergency Management and Department of Neighborhoods announced that the concept of community based hubs is expanding to include the P-Patch Gardens in the City of Seattle.
Community Emergency Hubs are places where people gather after a disaster to help each other. Hubs serve as a central gathering place among neighbors in homes, apartments, and condominiums. They include spaces like the P-Patches, which are already natural gathering places. With the addition of the P-Patches, it means neighbors and community members now have about 150 pre-determined places in the City of Seattle to meet after disaster.
How do I find out where the hubs are?
The Seattle Office of Emergency Management (OEM) maintains a map of hub sites. There is also an independent, interactive Seattle Emergency NeighborLink Map where community members can connect with each other.”
The press release continues with some frequently asked questions about the P-Patch hubs as gathering places, you can read the full release here
We welcome the addition of additional community gathering places and hope the P-Patch gardeners will join us in practicing what to do should a major disaster happen in Seattle!
Looking forward to 2017 – Plans underway for a busy year!
We accomplished a lot in 2016, especial with the additional of 8 hubs and our Cascadia Rising drill. The Hub Captains are thinking about what will be the most beneficial activities and we have a great list going. Stay tuned for more details about the following.
Hub Captains meetings will continue on 4th Thursday of every month, 7:00 pm at the Discovery Park Environmental Center
A large – full city drill, People would like to continue to practice for earthquakes.
“In the field” or tabletop ideas: Surprise drill, scramble drill, vulnerable populations training and tabletop
Other activities and training
Hub mentoring (one on one);
Hubs 101 Open time where we cover paperwork, tabletop, equipment, full drill;
Radio information – what is the Auxiliary Communication Service (ACS) and how do they work, what is the connection to hubs.
Learn about the city’s response plans (especially valuable for new hub captains)
Mapping app – hands on practice session for input and extracting info
Outreach and engagement – new ideas and show and tell from other neighborhoods.
Be sure and check our Calendar and sign up for our Newsletter to find events you want to attend.
Disaster Relief Trials Bike Drill Alki Summer Greenways
Imagine the impact a nearby 8.5 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami would have on Seattle. Buildings collapsed, roads in shambles, people displaced, services disconnected. Without roads that are passable to vehicles, how do we provide essential services to injured and scared residents?
The Disaster Relief Trials is a fun, emergency preparedness event which mobilizes bicyclists to carry cargo representing emergency supplies to and from checkpoints, and this year, we had hub locations in West Seattle participating. Check out our video from the Morgan Junction Hub!
New video of Hubs in Action!
If you haven’t been able to be at a hub during one of our drills, here’s a look at what hub volunteers and doing and thinking as they prepare to help their communities. This was filmed during our June, 2016 Cascadia Rising drill at the Lake City Hub, so you get to see some experienced people in action.
This video was created by Bill Aston, who is a professional videographer and who graciously donated his time and talent to do this. He is passionate about people learning about preparedness and the importance of taking action, and we thank him for this gift.
Hubs continue to grow
Several new hubs have either signed up or are in the process of getting established. New this month are Hubs in Victory Heights and Eastlake, and watch for additions in Ravenna Bryant and University Heights. We’ve also had some additional SNAP groups put themselves on the map as well; don’t forget to pass the word to your local SNAP group who might not yet be on the map.
Drills, training, outreach tables, presentations; the Seattle Emergency Communications Hubs had a busy year! We end the year with 51 hubs on the map and about 10 more in the process of getting organized. Many of the individual hubs held special events and training and we made some great new partnerships. Please see our Hubs 2015 Year In Review Newsletter Edition for all the details and pictures to boot.
City of Seattle Releases New Tool Seattle Hazard Explorer
The Seattle Office of Emergency Management website now features and series of interactive maps that highlight some of the city’s top hazards. Check out the Seattle Hazard Explorer and learn more about the hazards that impact Seattle. You can zoom in on your home, work place, or any other location to see what hazards are most likely to impact you. Information videos and other content provide more in depth explanations of each of the hazards. Make sure you look out for links to important preparedness information as well! You can access the Seattle Hazard Explorer here: View the Seattle Hazard Explorer You can also access the Seattle Hazards Explorer by going to the “Hazards” section of the Office of Emergency Management website.
Western Washington 4.8 magnitude earthquake!
The strongest earthquake in the region for over a decade hit the Vancouver area on December 30th, 2015. This event has raised concerns with many Puget Sound residents about whether or not they are prepared for a disaster. So what do you need to put in an “emergency kit” to keep in your car, office and your home to prepare yourself for the worst scenario? Do you have a plan of communication worked out with your family and the children? If the roads were closed and fire or medical services were unable to reach you, what are your options? Lucky for us we live in Seattle and our local government and individual resident volunteers are already gearing up to save lives and make a disaster in our city and neighborhoods more survivable. Komo News covered the steps for Earthquake and Emergency Preparedness they interviewed the Seattle Emergency Hub Captains, Cindi Barker and Karen Berge, about their Volunteer activities as well as the Pacific Northwest Seismic Center. The Seattle Emergency Hubs organization is a volunteer group of residents who practice emergency drills and training exercises on a regular basis. They coordinate these activities with other volunteer groups such as SNAP, CERT, Block Watch and ACS as well as City Management and Emergency services.
The Pacific Northwest Seismic Center had the perfect opportunity to test out their new equipment with this latest quake. They hope to have a mobile app ready soon so that residents can be alerted of future quake activity. Even so much as a 20 second alert can save lives.
“A 6.4 earthquake off Vancouver Island triggers alert in Western WA” – published in The Seattle Times on Thursday, July 11, 2024.@USGS_ShakeAlert quickly detected the M6.4 offshore EQ’s magnitude & […]
Self Help Posters were created by Hub volunteers to be used at the Hubs as a tool to help people immediately after a major disaster. In those first few days […]
(See calendar for full details of each event. ALL upcoming events can be found HERE!) North Capitol Hill – Hub Drill – Sunday, August 27th Volunteers needed to staff Hub […]
