Responding after a tsunami: Cordova’s participation in Alaska EX deemed a ‘win’ by city

CORDOVA, Alaska (KTUU) – Around 9 a.m. last Wednesday, in the quiet, coastal fishing town of Cordova, the familiar sounds of cawing crows and low idling boat motors were muted by the city’s tsunami siren.

While it was only a test, the response was rapid and very real.

Within minutes emergency response personnel loaded into fire trucks and ambulances, rolling out of the sea-level base garage following the tsunami route signs to higher ground. Meanwhile, over at Cordova’s City Hall, city officials evacuated their low-lying building to set up an emergency operation center in the U.S. Forest Service on the corner of Second Street and Federal Avenue.

It was all part of a full-scale disaster response exercise known as Alaska EX, a practice drill that tests a community’s ability to implement emergency protocols in the wake of a major event.

Collin Bronson, the city’s special projects director, acted as the incident commander during the drill.

“It was just a really good exercise for us to do,” Bronson said. “You can’t do it all the time, but if you can do it once or twice a year it goes a long way.”

The scenario in play was that a 9.2 earthquake rocked Southcentral, sending a 15-foot tsunami toward the town’s shores. Once the siren wailed out, the town began to transition to reactive measures.

Up the hill from the coast on the corner of Fourth Street and Adams Avenue, Cordova Church of the Nazarene began transforming into an overnight shelter. Senior Pastor Steve Leppert worked closely with American Red Cross of Alaska personnel, creating a check-in station, setting up cots in a room on the lower level and putting out snacks and bottles of water for “misplaced” residents.

Leppert has been in Cordova for 10 years, and while he has yet to see a major natural disaster take place, he said the large-scale drill allowed him to learn what his role would be if one were to happen in real life.

“I feel more informed and prepared that way — of the steps to take and where to go from there,” Leppert said. “We’ll be ready.”

Leppert, originally from the East Coast, said the Cordova community always works together, despite any differences residents may have.

“This town is really unique in that we’re kind of 50-50 on any issue,” he said. “But when something happens we’re totally united.”

The church was set up as an emergency shelter with the assistance of the American Red Cross of Alaska’s regional sheltering lead Sandra Dighton, who said it was important that Cordova residents know how to properly respond to an emergency that could potentially displace people.

“Depending on the disaster, we might not be able to get here,” Dwighton said. “The road could be cut off to the airport quite easily, the ferry system wouldn’t be working, so they would have to be self-sufficient.”

Dwighton said she’s confident in Cordova’s ability to successfully respond in the wake of a disaster, as the city is already well set up with emergency supplies in storage.

For Bronson, the time commitment it took for the city to plan and implement the drill was well worth the effort.

“It’s a total win because you just don’t know when you’re really going to need to do it and you don’t know in what capacity you’re going to have to jump in and fill a role,” Bronson said. “So if you have a chance to be in a drill and see all the different positions, then you’re just a little bit further along.”

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