Saturday, February 18, 2017
OFF PAGE ONE
CASCADIA: Communication to the wider world may be limited to ham radio
Page 14A
East Oregonian
Continued from 1A
Making sure you’re prepared
Meanwhile,
tens
of
thousands
of
buildings
west of the Cascades will
collapse, followed by a
massive tsunami that would
further destroy coastal cities
in Oregon and Washington.
FEMA’s 2013 Cascadia
Subduction Zone response
plan, used this summer for an
intergovernmental “Cascadia
Rising” drill in the Northwest,
estimated 5,200 deaths and
15,500 injuries in Oregon and
9,400 deaths and 12,000 inju-
ries in Washington. But that’s
using a hypothetical Feb. 6
morning earthquake with
an epicenter 95 miles west
of Eugene. Any number of
variables, such as peak tourist
season at the coast, could push
casualties as high as 25,000.
Umatilla County Emer-
gency Manager Tom Roberts
said if predictions about
Cascadia come true, two
things will be essential for
Eastern Oregonians: Don’t
panic, and be prepared.
“The big thing to take
away and remember is that
no one knows what’s going to
happen until it happens,” he
said. “With that in mind we
are asking people to prepare
for the worst and hope for the
best.”
If a Cascadia subduction zone earth-
quake hits the Pacific Northwest, individual
preparation will be key. Emergency
preparedness experts at FEMA and the
Red Cross recommend keeping a portable
72-hour emergency kit ready, then working
to build up at least a 14-day emergency
supply of food and water.
If that seems overwhelming, Umatilla
County emergency manager Tom Roberts
suggested that families focus on one step
at a time. They can pledge to buy an extra
case of bottled water next time it’s on sale,
for example, or plan to write out a list
of family members’ contact information
this weekend. More information about
emergency preparedness can be found at
ready.gov.
Power
On day one of Cascadia,
the most immediate impact
Eastern Oregon residents
need to be prepared for is
a loss of electricity. As the
Cascadia Rising scenario
document described it, when
electrical infrastructure on
the western side of the state
is destroyed, power will be
rerouted to other segments of
the network, which is likely
to overload the system and
trigger protective relays to
shut down.
“The loss of load capacity
from each switch may
cause cascading blackouts
extending much further
than the impacted area,” the
document notes. “Within
minutes of the initial shaking,
vast regions of Washington
and Oregon may experience a
complete blackout.”
Umatilla County’s emer-
gency operations center,
located inside the justice
building in Pendleton, has a
backup generator, as do hospi-
tals and other crucial facilities
in the county.
The problem, Roberts
said, will be keeping those
generators supplied with fuel
if power is out locally for
days or weeks. Oregon has
no refineries of its own, and
gets its fuel from Washington,
which would also be impacted
by the quake. More than 90
percent of Oregon’s liquid
fuel reserves are located along
Basic Preparations
Put together a 72-hour emergency kit
using:
1. One gallon of water per person per
day for drinking and hygiene
2. Non-perishable food for three days
(include manual can opener if needed)
3. A battery-operated radio/NOAA
weather radio
4. Flashlight
5. Extra batteries for flashlight and radio
6. First aid kit/ needed medications
7. Personal hygiene items (soap,
toothbrush, contact solution, tampons, etc.)
8. Multitool and/or pliers to turn off
utilities
9. A portable/solar cell phone charger
10. Laminated list of emergency
a six-mile stretch of the Willa-
mette River in Portland that
is vulnerable to liquefaction
during an earthquake. Long
story short: Natural gas and
fuel for running generators or
vehicles will likely be in very
short supply for weeks and
transporting it will likely be
difficult.
Roberts said the county
could possibly stretch its fuel
supplies farther using diesel
from nearby farms, but there
are not currently any such
agreements in place.
Nick Bejarano, director
of communications for
Good Shepherd Health Care
System, said the Hermiston
hospital has enough fuel
to run its generators for 96
hours, and hospitals would
be one of the top priorities for
any fuel coming in after those
four days.
Communications
Joe Franell, CEO of
Eastern Oregon Telecom and
chair of the governor’s Oregon
Broadband Advisory Council,
said he “doesn’t expect there
will be any internet connec-
tivity” in Oregon and parts
of Washington in the weeks
following Cascadia. The
Pittock building in Portland,
which serves as the internet
hub for the region, is not
“seismically stable.” Cell
phone towers will also likely
be disrupted, and since even
today’s landline systems
contacts and family emergency plan
11. Map of the area
12. Copies of insurance, birth certifi-
cates and other important documents
13. Extra cash
14. If needed, supplies for infants or pets
Intermediate preparations
Further items helpful to keep on hand
in case of an emergency:
1. Two week supply of nonperishable
food
2. Two week supply of water
3. Plain bleach to purify water (16 drops
per gallon)
4. Mess kit or paper goods
7. Blankets or sleeping bags
8. Towels
9. Matches in a waterproof container
10. Work gloves and dust mask
11. Plastic sheeting and duct tape
12. Camp stove and extra propane (do
not use indoors)
Advanced preparation
1. Become a licensed ham radio
operator
2. Become a Red Cross volunteer
3. Take first aid/CPR classes
4. If you’re a health professional, get
pre-credentialed with the State Emergency
Register of Volunteers
5. Seismically safeguard your home,
including bolting it to its foundation and
securing your hot water heater to the wall
5. Create a plan with neighbors, church
members and/or co-workers to make sure
everyone is taken care of.
include internet components,
“now even the old copper
phone lines probably will not
work,” Franell said.
Communication to the
wider world may be limited
to ham radio.
A short list of licensed
amateur ham radio opera-
tors are spread throughout
Umatilla County and Morrow
County. If Cascadia hit,
the county would rely on
them to work in shifts at the
emergency operations center
in Pendleton, sending and
receiving messages from the
military as well as state and
federal agencies. In addition
to audio communications
between radio operators, the
system also has the ability to
send emails to regular email
accounts via the radio even if
the internet is knocked out.
“It gives the deci-
sion-makers who need to
know the information they
need ... to decide where
resources will do the most
good,” Roberts said, calling
ham radio “probably the most
resilient” form of long-dis-
tance communication.
Alan Plan, ARES/RACES
coordinator in Umatilla
County, said if ham radio
operators in places like Ukiah
and Heppner have access to
power they can operate out
of their homes and report to
Pendleton the conditions in
their community.
“The beauty of ham radio
is the infrastructure is set
up by the hams themselves,
separate, and so is able to
exist off the grid,” he said.
If something happened
to the equipment ARES/
RACES has set up in the
emergency operations center
in Pendleton, the Oregon
Department of Transportation
has also stored a van in Pend-
leton which could function
as a mobile communications
center.
Supplies
State and county officials
are working diligently to
prepare Eastern Oregon for
the possibility of a Cascadia
event, but Roberts said the
more that individuals, fami-
lies and businesses prepare,
the less of a drain they will be
on resources more urgently
needed on the west side of the
state.
Cascadia forum
Eastern Oregon Forum
will present “Cascadia
Aftermath” on Tues-
day at 7 p.m. at Blue
Mountain Community
College in Pendleton,
room ST-200 in the
Science and Technolo-
gy building. Speakers
will be BMCC faculty
member Philip Schmitz,
Eastern Oregon Tele-
com CEO Joseph Franell
and Umatilla County
Emergency Manager
Thomas Roberts. For
more information call
541-966-3177.
The state’s Cascadia
Subduction Zone Response
Plan states that “significant
aid from state and federal
governments to local govern-
ments may not be available
for at least 72 hours.”
FEMA and the Red Cross
recommend citizens build
72-hour kits complete with
food and water for three days
(see sidebar) to get through
that time, since it’s likely that
grocery stores will not be
open if the power is out.
For individuals with
medical conditions, stock-
piling emergency supplies
can be especially important.
Kristy Beachamp, a public
health emergency prepared-
ness liaison with Oregon
Health Authority, said people
should do what they can to put
aside extra prescription medi-
cations in case an emergency
shuts down pharmacies.
They can try filling their
prescription a couple of days
early each month and putting
the extra pills aside in a secure
location, she said, or asking
for samples from the doctor,
although it is important to be
aware of expiration dates.
“It can be really tricky to
get a month’s supply,” she
said.
Umatilla County Sheriff
Terry Rowan said people can
help law enforcement by not
panicking and remembering
that help from the outside
will eventually come, and that
they can start helping each
other “at the grassroots level.”
“I think the key is prepared-
ness,” he said. “If today you
prepare, you don’t have to be
so afraid of the event that you
stop living your life.”
———
Contact Jade McDowell at
jmcdowell@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4536.
Stay tuned for the next
installment in the series,
Cascadia Day Seven, on
Tuesday.
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