A couple of notes from the folks over at Naval Station Everett.
Wednesday’s activities are a quick one-hour security drill with a major earthquake drill happening over 3 days at multiple Naval bases next week.
During the exercise, base access at the main gate may be closed for short 5 minute intervals. There will also be a heightened security presence at the base waterfront, loudspeaker alerts, and active emergency response vehicles.
Security training exercises such as this will continue to occur on a regular basis throughout the next several months.
Second, an earthquake drill will take place over multiple days next week and happen at Naval Station Everett as well as other bases around Puget Sound.
U.S. Navy installations in the Northwest region will conduct an earthquake response and recovery exercise Sept. 5-7. The participating installations include Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Naval Base Kitsap, Naval Magazine Indian Island and Naval Station Everett.
The annual exercise, called Citadel Rumble, will test Navy installations’ capabilities to prepare for, respond to and recover from an exercise scenario that includes multiple hazards. In this case, a simulated major earthquake will trigger other simulated hazardous events.
People near a Navy installation may see or hear activities related to the multi-day exercise, but this activity is not expected to impact the public outside of Navy property. Exercise activity that could potentially be observed include messages played over the Navy’s emergency notification loudspeaker system and increased emergency response vehicle and personnel activity. The Navy aims to minimize impact to the public as much as possible during such exercises.
This exercise will provide Navy personnel the opportunity to exercise emergency management teams, processes, procedures and partnerships with local mutual aid agencies to be better prepared to respond to real-world disasters. The exercise will also further enhance the Navy’s readiness and ability to deploy forces even under the most adverse conditions.
The installations, along with their tenant commands, will test various procedures, including damage assessment, evacuation plans, disaster preparedness, recovery and consequence management plans, and accounting for Sailors and Navy families in the affected regions through the Navy Family Accountability and Assessment System.
Citadel Rumble, spearheaded by Commander, Navy Installations Command, is an annual fully-integrated disaster preparedness, response and recovery exercise that evaluates Navy Shore Emergency Management program readiness.
August 28, 2018
Everett