Some Valley Cities Held Complete ShakeOut Drills; Others Opted To Just Talk

By Patricia El Sharei

Following the Great Southern California ShakeOut Drill on November 13, 2008, the publisher of the Palm Springs Area Survival Guide made telephone inquiries to officials of each of the 9 incorporated cities across the Coachella Valley to discover the extent of each city’s participation in the drill.

Officials from Palm Desert, La Quinta, Indian Wells, and Indio all reported that their cities had conducted full drills, complete with emergency communications exercises. By contrast, Palm Springs, Cathedral City, and Desert Hot Springs, held a tri-city table-top exercise at the newly remodeled Palm Springs Riviera Hotel and Spa for two days that introduced the ShakeOut Scenario and provided discussion on possible outcomes, and responses. Reportedly, the drill included just discussions with no actual emergency communications or field exercises.

Officials from the City of Coachella also reported holding just a table-top exercise, but stated that city officials were introduced to the ShakeOut Scenario prior to the scheduled date of the drill on November 13.

The City of Rancho Mirage held no drill but posted an announcement on its Web site encouraging residents to participate in the Great Southern California ShakeOut.

It should be noted that Rancho Mirage residents were introduced to the Great Southern California Shakeout at the city’s 6th Annual Emergency Town Hall Forum on March 5, 2008. The forum was entitled, “From Rubble to Reconstruction,” and featured Dr. Lucy Jones, Chief Scientist for the USGS. The video of her presentation can be viewed at:

http://www.ci.rancho-mirage.ca.us/city_government/city_commissions/emergency_preparedness/index.php

The City of Palm Springs held a similar town hall meeting on September 10, 2008, featuring Dr. Lucy Jones who introduced the November Great Southern California ShakeOut to Palm Springs residents.

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