Last April more than 150 first responders, emergency management and law enforcement officials from city, county and state agencies trained together in a 30-hour exercise that simulated a tunnel collapse along Interstate 40 in Haywood County. Crews tested their written plans and procedures and their own capabilities to communicate, operate and function within a unified command system to respond to a massive natural disaster. In this case, it was an earthquake.
It was the first time that area of the state had participated in such a large scale, hands-on exercise. (A Department of Homeland Security grant made the exercise possible.) Many of those involved at the time remarked that it was a great training and learning experience.
Those same crews were tested again – for real – earlier this week.
A major rockslide occurred Sunday around 2 a.m. blocking both lanes of Interstate 40 a few miles from the Tennessee border. Five vehicles, including one tractor-trailer, were hit by falling debris. Two people sustained non-life threatening injuries and were treated at the local hospital. The slide is about 150 feet high and 200 to 300 feet wide; some of the boulders are the size of a garage or small house.
Local and state emergency management and law enforcement officials responded to the incident immediately, assisting the victims, keeping everyone safe and rerouting traffic.
It is exactly why and for what they trained six months ago. Ironically, the rock slide occurred only 10 miles away from the training site.
We never know when or where disasters will strike. But we do know they will happen. It is why training is a vital part of emergency preparedness.
I’m pleased and proud to say that North Carolina is ready.