Jan. 16--The scene: An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale strikes Beaufort County. In the chaotic aftermath as National Guard troops rush in to assist local emergency officials, terrorists attack local military bases or key infrastructure.

Those are the events county staffers will react to over the course of three days beginning April 21. It's only a drill, but it's a big drill. Think of it as the Olympics of emergency management.

The county is one of two places in the U.S. participating in the National Guard exercise called "Vigilant Guard." The simulation is estimated to bring 2,000 people, more than 200 vehicles and millions of dollars to the county during the exercise.

The simulation will be divided into 50 missions spread across the county. Over the three days, local officials, with the help of guardsmen and state and federal crews will:

--Conduct search and rescue simulations in Bluffton, Beaufort, Port Royal and St. Helena

--Create a mobile medical hospital on Hilton Head Island

--Evacuate by air 150 "quake victims" from Hilton Head

--Distribute goods to southern and northern Beaufort County.

Every year, state chapters of the National Guard select two areas of the country for the exercise. Col. Pete Brooks, S.C. Guard spokesman, said Beaufort County was selected as the South Carolina site because it sits on the Summerville Fault line, is in a hurricane-prone area, and because of the "excitement, energy and interest" of county emergency management director William Winn.

Brooks said it would allow the Guard to establish relationships with local emergency management officials and "work out the kinks in those relationships prior to us rolling into Beaufort County for the first time in the case of a hurricane."

He also said it would pour money into the local economy, as participants converge on the area.

Participants in the exercise include every municipality in the county, local law enforcement and fire agencies, the Beaufort-Jasper Water & Sewer Authority, the four regional hospitals, and the local military bases. Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, officials, National Guard units from neighboring states, and South Carolina emergency management officials will also participate.

Some other major features of the exercise include:

--A quarter-million-dollar "rubble pit," which Winn called "a fancy term for a collapsed building." The rubble pit will be in Burton near the county's Public Works facility and will stay at the site, so firefighters and other local groups can continue using it for training.

--A communications center where county staff and guardsmen will handle the influx of national media covering a disaster.

--And, possibly, a pontoon bridge over the Chechessee River.

The days of the exercise also fall on the heels of the Verizon Heritage PGA tournament on Hilton Head, but Winn said the simulations were designed to not interfere with the tourist season, even though helicopters, two tent cities and overnight missions are involved.

"We are scheduling everything around traffic," said Winn, "and just about everything on Hilton Head will involve air traffic."

To see more of The Island Packet, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.islandpacket.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Island Packet, Hilton Head Island, S.C. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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