On March 2, Forks City Hall hosted a bad weather scenario disaster meeting. Rod Fleck was the moderator of the meeting which was called to order at 1 p.m.

The purpose of the meeting was to review, highlight and prepare for the difference in weather from the original Cascadia Rising exercise that happened on a beautiful June morning last year.

The plan was to look at a typical winter day in Forks, Jan.18-19, 2017, were chosen from a Forks weather history page. Daytime temperatures for those two days were 45 degrees and there were over 2 inches of rain each day.

Participants stepped through the timed exercise and compared differences and other factors that would have to be considered. The what if’s played out were all actual things that could happen when the predicted earthquake happens along our coast.

As a result of this meeting, there were some updated shelter ideas brought out, updated information and possible distribution site ideas, updated and ongoing communication ideas, and a lot of cooperative planning and questions that are now being considered and worked on.

The meeting included city staff members, school staff members, the fire chief, Clallam County Emergency Management coordinator (Jayme Wisecup), representatives from Forks Community Hospital and until called off to an emergency, ambulance personnel, and amateur radio operators from the local ARES group and from the school. The high school has an amateur radio operator and the school has purchased a radio for use there. The ARES group had a member from La Push and John Richmond and Joe Wright.

There will be follow-up meetings on specific subjects noted in this meeting and Fleck already has selected a date for another type of disaster meeting in the form of the historic Forks fire.