JOYCE — An international audience is learning about Joyce and its citizens’ efforts to prepare for a Cascadia earthquake.
British Broadcasting Corporation posted to its website Wednesday a video highlighting the ongoing work of Joyce Emergency Planning and Preparation (JEPP). The video can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/PDN-bbcjoyce.
The video features former state Rep. Jim Buck and other JEPP volunteers discussing the aftermath of a magnitude-9.0 earthquake on the Cascadia subduction zone.
Produced by BBC journalist Colleen Hagerty, the 4-minute, 24-second clip includes scenes from Joyce and a disaster preparedness lecture that Buck gave at the Port Angeles library Jan. 31.
“We have 72,000 people who live in the county,” Buck told Hagerty.
“We could lose 24,000 people in 30 to 60 days simply because the area can’t be accessed.
“You drove here on the only road that comes here,” Buck added, referring to U.S. Highway 101.
“And if that road’s broken — and science says it could be — then we’re not looking at having a significant supply train being able to bring us the food, the fuel, the medicine and the stuff that we have to have.”
Buck and other emergency planner say it will likely take 30 days for supplies to arrive on the North Olympic Peninsula after a Cascadia mega-quake, the last of which occurred on Jan. 26, 1700.
Hagerty’s video, entitled “The US town prepping for ‘devastating’ disaster,” was the fifth most-watched video on the BBC News website Thursday.
Buck received the 2018 Governor’s Volunteer Service Award for disaster preparation and emergency response on April 9.
He and his wife, Donna Buck, received a 2018 Clallam County Community Service Award on April 26 for helping Joyce and other communities prepare for the Cascadia disaster.
________
Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
