After the Sylmar earthquake in 1971, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California established emergency planning procedures. In 1994, the Northridge earthquake in the same area put those preparations to the test. Much of the groundwork proved helpful: an Emergency Operations Center was activated within 40 minutes, and reconnaissance patrols completed their damage inspection within just 5 hours. In addition, a decision to buy heavy machining equipment paid off when crews were able to fabricate new pipe sections for the damaged Jensen Filtration Plan. Lessons learned in 1994 were that practice sessions do not duplicate the actual experience of an earthquake; human emotional response to disaster is unpredictable; agencies can expect outside assistance and do not need large stockpiles of extra equipment; and a business resumption plan needs to be established so office work can continue during an emergency. Includes 3 references.
| Edition : | Vol. 87 - No. 5 |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 890 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 6 |
| Published : | 05/01/1995 |
