Planes and parachutes might be the best bet for getting supplies to cut-off areas in the event of a subduction zone earthquake. National Guard pilots and paratroopers practiced supply drops and parachute jumps Thursday.
It was part of a multi-day disaster exercise called Cascadia Rising. For this drill they used big, twin-rotor Chinook helicopters rather than planes. They flew to the Shelton airport, which would be a key location for helping the Washington coast following a tsunami.
As the helicopters flew over, boxes of supplies attached to parachutes tumbled out the back and slowly drifted to the ground. Seven paratroopers jumped from another Chinook.
Captain Daniel Raymond from the Washington National Guard said roads and runways could be unusable after a major quake.
“In the Cascadia Subduction Zone actual rupture we’re planning that we won’t be able to get here by ground,” he said.
Cascadia Rising is described as the largest earthquake exercise in state history.
