A focus on lahars in Pierce County

A focus on lahars in Pierce County

By Brian Terbush

Earthquake/Volcano Program Manager

Students and faculty in Eastern Pierce County School districts will practice their readiness for a Mt. Rainier eruption again on Thursday, April 23. With more than 20 schools participating, this is the largest volcano exercise in the world and a great demonstration that everyone in Washington can be prepared for future eruptions of our volcanoes. Learn more about the drill and what it entails, here: laharexercise.com.

The USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory and partner agencies will also be taking time to help community members learn about volcano hazards and preparedness in the area. Throughout the week of the drill, scientists and emergency managers will talk to students and be visiting classrooms.

For the broader community, USGS will host events in Puyallup and Orting where you can learn more about the volcanoes and the work they do to monitor them and detect when an eruption might be coming:

EVENT: Saturday - April 18: Lahar Education and Outreach Fair (10 a.m. - 4 p.m.)

Where: Puyallup Library

EVENT: Saturday - April 25: Lahar Education and Outreach Fair (10 a.m. - 5 p.m.)

Where: Orting Middle School Commons

What: These outreach events will offer several tables with USGS information, hands-on demonstrations (like mini-versions of some of what was shared at the open house) and an opportunity to hand out the newly developed lahar outreach products to the community. Other local partners will also be on hand with tables about emergency preparedness.

Who: USGS will staff tables and talk to members of the community, as well as folks to work with kids on activities related to volcano education.

Living with active volcanoes like Mt. Rainier is part of life in Washington. Knowing that they will someday erupt and taking steps to learn about and be prepared for their hazards is a wise choice.

• For volcanoes like Mt. Rainier the biggest volcanic hazard is not a big explosion and a cloud of ash. It comes from the massive amounts of snow and ice covering the volcano.
• During an eruption, snow and ice can melt and come rushing downstream in a volcanic hazard known as a lahar, or volcanic mudflow.
• At Mt. Rainier, there is also a very small chance that a large lahar could also begin without any volcanic eruption, just from a large landslide happening on the volcano. This drill and understanding evacuation routes work for both situations.

Lahars are extremely destructive volcanic hazards and Washington's volcanoes have thousands of years of histories of these events during eruptions. During a lahar, the only way to guarantee safety is to evacuate the valley floor and ensure you are not there when the flow arrives.

The communities and school districts of the East Pierce Interlocal Coalition (EPIC) located within Mt. Rainier's lahar hazard zones take preparing for this hazard very seriously, and practice lahar evacuation drills every two years, or every year in Orting. In these drills, thousands of students and faculty practice what they would do in the event of a lahar.

• Some schools walk their full evacuation routes, while others walk part and review where they would go, led by teachers.
• Schools not located within the lahar inundation zone practice their shelter-in-place, which is also important because it ensures that everyone is accounted for, and that there are fewer people on the roads to make room for emergency vehicles assisting with evacuations.
• During the evacuation drill, students practicing will be supported with public safety staff and monitored closely by Emergency Operations Centers, also doing the critical work of practicing how they would support a large evacuation of this scale and learning how they can improve.

For those in the Puyallup River Valley not involved in the drill, all the attention this event will create is an excellent reminder that it's a good idea to learn about volcano safety in these areas. For those with students participating in the drill, we recommend this as a great time to review your hazards and practice volcano preparedness at home. It is important that the students know how to get to higher ground from school, but lahars may happen while at home, as well, and knowing the evacuation routes will save a lot of time in the stressful situation where an evacuation is necessary.

It's also a great idea to make sure you're signed up for local alerts to ensure you'll know a lahar is coming and that it's time to evacuate. Mil.wa.gov/alerts has additional information on alerting methods, including links to local alerts for all Washington Counties, and USGS Volcano Notification Service, which will provide updates when any of our volcanoes show signs that they may be approaching eruption.

Whether you live in an area impacted by Mt. Rainier, or any of our other four active volcanoes, this drill and the work done by the communities is a great reminder: While a volcanic eruption seems like a huge hazard there's nothing we can do about, there is a lot we can do to prepare for an eruption and ensure our safety.

We encourage you to take these opportunities to learn about volcanic hazards in your area and get prepared for your volcanoes.