Cascadia Coastal Hazards RCN Public Seminar Series

Maximilian Dixon (WA EMD)- "Assessment of Vertical Evacuation on the outer coast of Washington"

A virtual seminar of the Cascadia Coastal Hazards RCN, and co-sponsored by the CoPes HUB.  The seminar is open to the public. 

Abstract: This assessment is an evolution of the work completed since 2010. The specific purpose is to verify and analyze the proposed or potential sites for vertical evacuation structures in each study area using four vertical evacuation options. The “no  vertical evacuation” scenario became Option 1 and can be considered the baseline for each community. Option 2 included all proposed sites from the 2010-2011 community planning effort and Options 3 and 4 were adaptations of Option 2. Option 3 expanded the spatial coverage of Option 2 by adding additional potential vertical evacuation sites and Option 4 attempts to highlight the most efficient or lean approach to vertical evacuation for each community (often with a reduced number of sites, leaving only the most strategic locations). Each option has an accompanying set of statistics that identify the benefits of each, and the percentage of the population accommodated by each option. Population types are broken down into residents, schools, and fire departments. The complete set of results for each community study area will serve as the basis of local decision-making.

Biography: Maximilian Dixon is the Hazards and Outreach Program Supervisor for the Washington State Military Department's Emergency Management Division (WA EMD). He manages the Earthquake, Tsunami, Volcano, Public Education, Preparedness and Outreach Programs and represents WA EMD as the subject matter expert and policy advisor on geological hazards , preparedness and outreach issues. Maximilian is responsible for coordinating geological hazard risk reduction efforts between international, federal, state, tribal, and local partners. He leads the Operations Section for the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC). Maximilian is on the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) Coordinating Committee and the Advanced National Seismic System (ANSS) Steering Committee. He is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) and a recipient of the Governor's Award for Leadership in Management. He received his bachelor's degree and two masters degree's from the University of Washington.