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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 21, 2017)
Page 10A Tuesday, February 21, 2017 OFF PAGE ONE CASCADIA: An estimated 520K will need shelter East Oregonian Continued from 1A Paris Achen/Pamplin Media Group Raul Perez, 12, (right) and his mother, Norma, (left) lis- ten to a hearing on a bill that would expand health coverage to undocumented children, during a meeting of the House Committee on Health Care Monday. HEALTH: Bill first proposed by former Rep. Vic Gilliam Continued from 1A his sister. The lawmakers have spon- sored legislation that would allow the Oregon Health Authority to give health coverage to the more than 17,000 undocumented chil- dren in the state, effective July 1. Children in households that earn 300 percent of federal poverty level are eligible for the state health program. The bill was first proposed by former Rep. Vic Gilliam, R-Silverton, who resigned earlier this month due to his battle with ALS. Gilliam sought to pass the same legis- lation in 2015, but it died in the Senate. Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Portland, read testimony by Gilliam in support of this year’s bill during a hearing in the House Committee on Health Care. “The bill offers care and compassion to a vulnerable Oregon population, and it offers savings and illness prevention for all Orego- nians,” Gilliam wrote. “Our communities are stronger when all of our children are healthy.” Gov. Brown has included the $55 million biennial cost to add the coverage in her proposed budget, released in December. The cost can only be paid for with state general fund dollars. “Oregon children should have the opportunity to be healthy and ready to learn, and Oregon families should feel confident that a medical event will not dramatically change the trajectory of their lives,” the governor testified Monday. BURIAL: Described as a cathartic moment for the tribes Continued from 1A who wanted to study the bones filed a lawsuit insisting the Kennewick Man was not related to the tribes, based on the shape of the skull. The scientists eventually won in court, and the Army Corps of Engineers retained custody of the remains. It wasn’t until 2015 when a DNA analysis at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark showed the Kennewick Man was, in fact Native American. Congress passed legis- lation in 2016 to return the Kennewick Man to the tribes. Repatriation was done Friday, Feb. 17 at the Burke Museum in Seattle, where the remains were being held. It took six hours to account for every piece of bone and bone frag- ment. “The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is proud to have worked with all parties to repatriate the Ancient One to the Tribes,” said Gary Burke, CTUIR board chairman. “We jointly believe in respecting our ancestors of our past and have fulfilled our responsi- bility to finally lay the Ancient One to rest.” Chuck Sams, CTUIR spokesman, was present for both the repatriation and burial of Kennewick Man. He described it as a cathartic moment for the tribes, with emotions ranging from joy and relief to sadness that some tribal elders did not live to see the Ancient One’s reburial. “It’s a little shocking it took over 20 years to get to where we are today,” Sams said. The remains were buried in the high desert, not far from the Columbia River. Sams said the tribes led a Washat ceremony, singing songs that are thousands of years old and may very well have been from the Kennewick Man’s time. Afterward, members of the five tribes attended a traditional dinner of salmon, buffalo, elk, roots and berries at the Wanapum Longhouse in Priest Rapids, Washington. “This is a big day, and our people have come to witness and honor our ancestor,” said Armand Minthorn, CTUIR board member and Long- house leader. “We continue to practice our beliefs and laws as our Creator has given us since time immemorial.” With more than 100,000 sets of American Indian remains still in public and private collections across the country, Sams said there is the need to strengthen the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Specif- ically, he said the law should give proper weight to the tribes’ oral traditions of their history. “We know who we are, and where we come from,” Sams said. ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0825. but leadership down there is going to be focused on their own families — as they should be — so we could bring in some leadership,” he said. Fellows said both counties have expressed an interest in expanding the agreement to other depart- ments such as health and law enforcement. Umatilla County’s ongoing partnerships with Morrow County would also come into play. Morrow County emer- gency manager John Bowles said his county doesn’t have the resources of some of the larger counties in the state, but they would contribute what they could, which might include things like caring for livestock rescued from the west side of the state. “We have the land that we could take a chunk and throw some sheep or cattle or horses on it in the event of an emergency,” he said. Bowles said in the coming months the Morrow County Sheriff’s Department plans to use its Facebook page and other venues to provide educational materials about emergency preparedness. According to the state’s Cascadia Subduction Zone plan, firefighters, law enforcement, engineers, building inspectors, medical personnel and others from the east side of the state will also be requested to help on the west side. Influx of people Umatilla County emer- gency manager Tom Roberts said he could see Umatilla County quickly becoming sandwiched between refugees from the west and volunteers and journalists pouring in from the east. Many of the people coming from the west side of the state will likely have inju- ries sustained as buildings and bridges collapsed. Nick Bejarano, communications director for Good Shepherd Make a neighborhood plan In the days following a major natural disaster when government and nonprofit resources are still over- whelmed, one of the best ways to help can be taking care of others. Ralph Werner of Hermiston, inspired by the book “When All Plans Fail” by Paul Williams, is laying the groundwork for those efforts now by creating a neigh- borhood disaster plan with the 18 houses surrounding his. “If no one knows what to do, we have chaos,” he said. Werner started by going door to door and asking his neighbors to fill out a questionnaire that will be compiled and redistributed to the neighborhood. The survey asks for contact information, the names and ages of people living in the house, the location of utility shutoffs (most fires after earthquakes start with natural gas leaks) and a list of useful skills such as medical training or plumbing repair. Werner has also created a nine-step plan for everyone to follow. Once they have checked off the personal items — such as turning off utilities and dressing in protective clothing — Werner asks everyone to place a special card in the front window indicating whether they are OK or need help. “If no card is visible, we will check on them in case they are injured and can’t reach the window,” he said. Next, the plan asks everyone to report to the “neigh- borhood care center” — in this case, Werner’s house. There, the neighbors will break into teams, with some checking on “special needs” houses (those with children or elderly/disabled residents) while others will take first aid kits out in search of the injured or stay at the center to listen for updates on the NOAA weather radio. Werner said he would encourage all neighborhoods to implement similar plans of their own, which will allow people to organize and find those who need help as quickly as possible. Businesses, church congregations, extended families and other groups should also consider who might need checking on or how to communicate in the event of an emergency. Health Care System, said immediately after Cascadia they would implement their emergency operations plan. “We would call in all nurses and physicians within driving distance that could make it in,” he said, calling it an “all hands on deck” situation. Bejarano said as many as 60,000 injured and hospital- ized people from the west side the state will need to be triaged and evacuated to hospitals still in operation. The hospital in Hermiston is only licensed for 25 beds, and many Eastern Oregon hospitals have similarly small numbers, so he said patients being flown out of the west will be sent as far away as Utah. However, Good Shepherd would take in as many people as it could handle, including those with less serious injuries who could be stitched up and released. The Red Cross and FEMA, meanwhile, would be working to set up shelter. In Oregon the state estimates 520,000 people will need shelter in the aftermath of Cascadia, while about 500,000 more will stay in their own makeshift shelters but still need support with food and water. Monique Dugaw, communications director for the Cascades region of the Red Cross, said the nonprofit works closely with the government during disasters and participated in the Cascadia Rising drill. After an earthquake the Red Cross would start by providing shelter. “We would be focused on meeting immediate needs, a cot, a blanket, a place to stay that’s safe and warm, three meals a day,” she said. Sending supplies The government plans to use Robert’s Field in Redmond as the Federal Incident Support Base on the assumption it remains mostly undamaged during Cascadia. Steve Chrisman, manager of the Pendleton Airport, said he recently sent a pitch to the state arguing that Pend- leton should be the backup or secondary location for sending supplies and volun- teers west. “Pendleton for a lot of reasons seems like a pretty logical backup,” he said. He pointed out that the Pendleton Airport has a “massive” concrete apron for staging surrounded by more than a thousand acres of flat land to set up camps. The airport includes an Oregon National Guard hangar and armory, two runways large enough to land a Boeing 737 and a 34,000-square-foot hangar for staging. Nearby resources like the Pend- leton Convention Center, Round-Up Grounds, farms and 1,400 hotel rooms could also be utilized. “We have a lot of food processing in the area, whereas they would have to ship a lot of that to central Oregon,” Chrisman said. The locations would also be more conveniently located to ports along the Columbia River, where supplies could be sent by boat if bridge collapses were not blocking the river too far east. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536.
