National Preparedness Month in Portland

As we pause to reflect on the devastation Hurricanes Katrina and Rita wreaked on the gulf coast in 2005 and the horror of that bright fall day in 2001 when terror visited our shores, the nation also takes time this month to think about the future. National Preparedness Month challenges us to think about what we can do today to prepare ourselves for disasters in our own community.

Hundreds of studies conducted in the aftermath of these tragic events and many others since point to the importance of taking simple steps. Nothing does more to improve the resilience of individuals or communities than building social capital.

The civic infrastructure of a community – the relationships among its people and institutions – are the glue that holds people together when times are tough. These connections allow us to tap vast reservoirs of experience, goodwill, raw talent and other resources.

Portlanders have distinguished themselves as people who care about one another and the community in which they live. As many other parts of the country experienced declines in civic engagement, more Portlanders volunteered more time and formed or joined more efforts to improve social conditions, promote local food production, encourage alternatives to travel by automobile, and increase innovation and entrepreneurship.

These investments in social, economic and environmental sustainability may not look like much individually. But collectively, they represent an enormous investment in our city and its future, which will help us respond and recover quickly when disasters strikes.

This month, the Office of Emergency Management is supporting three events that reflect just this sort of can-do spirit. The first involves amateur radio operators who volunteer their time and equipment to ensure uninterrupted communication in the event of a disaster. The article at the bottom of this page offers additional information about this event.

On September 20, the OEM will partner with local residents in northwest Portland for a town hall presentation by Mr. James Roddey of the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries on the Cascadia Subduction Zone and seismic risks in the Pacific Northwest. This event will be held in the Chapman Elementary School auditorium starting at 6:00 PM.

As we approach the end of the month, OEM will convene another town hall meeting to explore the applications of social media, crowdsourcing and open source systems in emergency management. This workshop will provide an opportunity to explore how information and communication technology and platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google Maps and platforms are already being used to improve situational awareness -- our individual and shared understandings of disaster impacts and the effectiveness of our responses. More information on this event will follow soon.

Our community and our fellow citizens are our most important partners when disaster strikes. Neighborhood Emergency Teams and OEM staff invite you to take a few moments this month to reflect on the ways your efforts are helping making Portland better prepared for disaster.