Jackson to be refuge in case Memphis/WTN hit hard by earthqauke

[Rural King 2]

Jackson has been designated as the staging area for West Tennessee for all relief efforts in case of a severe earthquake along the New Madrid Fault. Plans call for use of city facilities like the Oman Arena, schools, etc for housing of refugess and the use of McKellar Airport for state/federal ends to facilitate as much aid to the region as possible via airlift, esp. if Jackson is spared severe damage and Memphis is hit hard due to its sandy soil.

The question is how well could Jackson and other smaller regional centers like Dyersburg (?), Union City(?), Martin(?), Paris, Lexington, Humboldt, etc cope with refugees coming in for food, shelter, medical supplies etc, at thet same time seeing the regions airports, primarily probably McKellar-Sipes (Jackson) and Everett-Stewart (Union City) -due to their larger sizes and longer runways- take on an incredible burden of TEMA and FEMA flights with supplies? Of course more than likely the eastward road net would survive and facilitate relief efforts, but at first air supply would be probably be the immediate response as I take it.

Could the Jackson and the region cope with saving Memphis? What happens if the damage involves more than just Memphis, as it almost certianly seem to would, involving towns such as Dyersburg, Tiptonville, Covington, etc, with damage extending possible inland to Jackson, Union City, Martin, etc? It seems in that that the region would be in a bind. I'm not sure how we could cope with it outside of just seeing how bad things were and doing the best as possible with the infrastructure immediately available, or in other words outside of hoping that law and order could be maintained, refugees could be evacuated as best as possible to safety, the road net stayed in tact (which I think it would), and that the airports could facilitate a massive relief effort.

So lets discuss West Tennessee and disaster prepardness. How does everyone think we would cope not just in Memphis, but in the region as a whole?

Jackson Sun Article that sparked my query:

http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...=73233778387759

[PHofKS 8670]

I do know that TDOT has been retro-fitting all bridges in West Tennessee with seismic protection, so the roads ought to be accesible after a quake.

I would speculate that an evacuation after the fact would not be as dramatic as was the New Orleans disaster. There would probably be no contra-flow lanes (that is, opening all lanes of the interstate to outbound traffic) as it will be necessary to get vehicles in as well as out. Once the quake has occurred, there is no need to flee in a panic mode. If you lost your house, you save what you can and leave. But you will have a little time to locate a place to stay and may not need so much emergency shelter.

The hospitals on the other hand...

[Bears 0]

^I think TDOT made the Hernando Desoto Bridge earthquake resistant but we won't know how well it'll work till the earthquake hits. Memphis Arkansas bridge will collapse and I dunno about the I-69 bridge in Tunica (whats the status of that?). Jackson, Oxford, Tupelo, and possibly Jonesboro, Nashville, and Little Rock will become the refuge centers for the people in our region. I remember hearing about a predicted earthquake and some people went to Little Rock till things settled down (late 80's early 90's?). I was just a little kid so I don't remember a thing other than the ice storm in 93. How many buildings in Memphis are earthquake resistant anyway? They botched the Katrina disaster and they knew it was coming but the Memphis earthquake will be a complete surprise so hopefully FEMA fixes itself before that day comes. Wharton has said that when the earthquake hits, perpare to be on your own for several days. Even the Shelby County Earthquake Response Center wasn't built to survive a quake!!! but the U of M's earthquake research building is

[qwertycc 0]

Jonesboro is closer to the New Madrid faultline than Memphis is, so I highly doubt it will serve as a save haven since they will most likely be hit too. I imagine Dyersburg, Union City, and possibly Martin would be impacted by a quake as well. Jackson probably would be like Baton Rouge to Memphis's New Orleans, but I assume Nashville, Birmingham, and Mississippi cities like Tupelo, Corinth, Jackson, etc would get a large portion of the refugees as well. Depending on the severity, injured refugees may have to spread to hospitals in Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Atlanta in addition to those cities above. Katrina had about a week's notice and at least 3 days of knowing the general landfall location & magnitude; a New Madrid quake would have a few minutes.

New Madrid Fault Line

[Clobber 0]

^I think TDOT made the Hernando Desoto Bridge earthquake resistant but we won't know how well it'll work till the earthquake hits. Memphis Arkansas bridge will collapse and I dunno about the I-69 bridge in Tunica (whats the status of that?). Jackson, Oxford, Tupelo, and possibly Jonesboro, Nashville, and Little Rock will become the refuge centers for the people in our region. I remember hearing about a predicted earthquake and some people went to Little Rock till things settled down (late 80's early 90's?). I was just a little kid so I don't remember a thing other than the ice storm in 93. How many buildings in Memphis are earthquake resistant anyway? They botched the Katrina disaster and they knew it was coming but the Memphis earthquake will be a complete surprise so hopefully FEMA fixes itself before that day comes. Wharton has said that when the earthquake hits, perpare to be on your own for several days. Even the Shelby County Earthquake Response Center wasn't built to survive a quake!!! but the U of M's earthquake research building is

Iben Browning Dec. 3?

[fieldmarshaldj 2086]

I was just a little kid so I don't remember a thing other than the ice storm in 93.

The ice storm was in 1994. I remember the dreadful mess it made of our yard and the repairs that had to be made to our trees to keep them from permanently toppling.