Friday, May 12, 2000

By AMY E. NEVALA
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

More than 20 years after Mount St. Helens rewrote the map on volcano hazards in Washington state, Pierce County will hold a disaster planning exercise to test the county's readiness to face an eruption of the mountain in its own back yard.

On Oct. 10, emergency management officials will hold a "dress rehearsal" of what could happen in the event of an eruption.

"This is a behind-the-scenes effort. We won't be blaring sirens or blocking roads," said Steven Bailey, director of county emergency services. "Officials will role-play how we'd communicate, facilitate evacuation and issue commands in the event of an eruption.

"It's time we had one focused on Mount Rainier."

	Mount Rainier holds the biggest mass of snow and ice of any mountain in the lower 48 states. It’s been 550 years since the mountain’s last significant activity. P-I photo

Similar exercises are held each fall to test various disaster response plans. This one is the final step in a three-year process, Bailey said.

Though Rainier shows no sign of erupting soon, Pierce County is likely to bear the brunt of the blow when it does.

"Pierce County has a resident population of about 700,000 and all of these people can potentially be affected by volcanic hazards, particularly mudflows," emergency management officials warned in a Mount Rainier volcanic hazards response plan released last year.

Mount Rainier holds the biggest mass of snow and ice of any mountain in the lower 48 states. Melted and combined with the loose clay and rock it can become fast-moving, concretelike slurries called lahars.

Pierce County's volcano emergency response planning began three years ago when federal, state, county and local officials met to discuss the potential for future eruptions from Rainier.

"Scientists tell us that the historical activity record of Mount Rainier indicates that the mountain produces some significant activity every 500 to 1,000 years," said Bailey. "It has been 550 years since the last significant event."

Christopher Newhall of the U.S. Geological Survey warns this does not mean an eruption will definitely occur within the 500- to 1,000-year time frame.

"People should not panic. Just because it's been 500 to 1,000 years doesn't mean we're overdue. It means we're moving into a window of potential hazard," he said. "It means that everybody has to be aware of potential hazards and scientists have to watch the volcano closely."

In 1998, Pierce County began planning by installing 10 alarms called acoustic flow monitors in the Puyallup and Carbon river valleys. The alarms alert emergency centers when the ground shakes.

The U.S. Geological Survey provided $200,000 for the alarm system.

In 1999 the county published an 11-part Mount Rainier volcanic hazards public safety response plan. This plan and the October planning exercise are a $100,000 effort funded by county and state emergency management departments.

The county's Department of Emergency Management will play host to the October event in cooperation with King County and state emergency management officials, and this summer will begin work on a volcano awareness public education campaign that may involve local school districts, community and senior centers and the media.

As part of the campaign, the department is considering creation of an FM radio system to broadcast evacuation directions if Rainier erupts. And there's a proposal to post volcano evacuation route signs along Pierce County roads and Highway 162.

Bailey said the signs, directing motorists to high ground outside the valleys, may be similar to the tsunami evacuation signs common on the Washington coast.