SEATTLE'S PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND GEOSCIENCE (Invited Presentation)

Seattle defines hazards as a source of potential danger that can produce incidents that can suddenly and widely threaten life, property, the environment and critical systems. These incidents demand immediate, multi-department and often multi-jurisdiction response to stabilize and recover from. Seattle groups its hazards into 18 types of which the seismic hazard ranks first. Other geophysical hazards include landslides, tsunamis and volcanic hazards.

Scientists play an important role in defining hazards but they are often unaware of how local government uses their information. The presentation will fill in these gaps. The first step is to synthesize this research into a study called the Seattle Hazard Identification and Vulnerability Analysis (SHIVA). The SHIVA also characterizes the community because it is the combination of hazard and vulnerability that cause disaster. The hazards provided in the SHIVA spell out what Seattle’s emergency plans and exercises will address.

One of the main challenges for emergency management staff is to communicate complex scientific data to the lay public. One of the most important ways that scientists can help emergency managers is by producing documents that summarize key findings in plain language and by being available to review reports and educational material. The presentation will outline how scientific data is used in public education.

Finally, it will introduce how resilience concepts are changing how emergency management is conducted and links it to sustainability efforts. Special emphasis will be placed on Seattle’s successful application to get a 100 Resilient Cities grant and to develop metrics for resilience.