Great ShakeOut & Tsunami Evacuation Drill

South Bend Public Schools participated in the Great Washington Shake Out on October 15 at 10:15 am.  After the scheduled earthquake drill, the school followed the coordinated tsunami evacuation drill initiated by Pacific County Emergency Management and the City of South Bend.  The entire school district, over 600 students and staff from the pre-school to the high school, made their way up Monroe and over to Cowlitz and Jackson in under 15 minutes.  School busses were waiting at the staging area and transported elementary children back to the South Bend campus.

South Bend Schools have been practicing school-wide tsunami evacuation exercises for years.  We believe this is important to do so that both staff and students experience the process of where to go in the event of an actual emergency.  Practicing this drill allows us to become more efficient and safe as we move six to seven hundred people to elevated safety.  As this process becomes second nature to our students and staff, their confidence and understanding of what to do helps ensure everyone's safety.

It is impossible to anticipate the exact circumstances we will face during and after an earthquake emergency.  However, we have clear procedures of how to react during an earthquake and these procedures are taught to our students on a regular basis.  In the event of an actual tsunami evacuation order, we will evacuate as planned and then coordinate and follow procedures as established by South Bend
City officials and Pacific County Emergency Management.  Student safety is our primary concern, and we will do what it takes to ensure each and every one of our students are accounted for and safe.

Parents should be sure to talk with their children about safety procedures during and after an earthquake, and should have an emergency plan in place at home.  This is good reinforcement of emergency procedures learned at school, and will help ensure families are safe in the event an emergency occurs while at home.   Further information can be found at the Pacific County Emergency Management website.