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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 22, 2017)
Page 10A Wednesday, February 22, 2017 OFF PAGE ONE CASCADIA: A family plan is part of psychologically preparing for the event East Oregonian Continued from 1A Halftime hop Staff photo by E.J. Harris The Rhythmic Mode dance team per- forms a lift move in their performance during halftime of the boy’s basketball game Tuesday at Pendleton High School. NUCLEAR: Agency dependent on nuclear plant when water is low at electric dams Kieran Connolly, Bonne- ville’s vice president for generation and asset manage- ment, told the newspaper that the agency is dependent on the nuclear plant when water conditions are low at energy-producing dams. He said some of the nuclear plants slated to close early, such as Diablo Canyon in California, were facing Continued from 1A Most experts note that the Northwest wholesale markets are awash in energy, but could soon go into a capacity deficit. Such a shortage could be exacerbated by the slated closure of three coal-fired plants in Oregon, Wash- ington and Montana in 2020 and 2021. major new capital invest- ments. That’s not the case for the Columbia Generating Station, he said. “Our customers’ focus is on safely, reliably and cost effectiveness” in meeting electricity needs, he said. “They’re not seeing it as a resource they are questioning. They just want to make sure it’s well managed.” EAGLES: Received weeks of supportive care Continued from 1A last summer, including an adult male and immature female. The female was discovered in July by hikers around Jubilee Lake, which they wrapped in a coat and placed in a cooler until it could be collected by wild- life officials. Tompkins said the bird had a dislocated hip and shoulder, and was unable to fly. She figures there had to be a collision of some kind to sustain those injuries. The male, however, was more of a mystery. Tompkins said they received the eagle from around Ellensburg, Washington, and though the bird was emaciated and dehydrated, they could not figure out why. “He was really thin, and he wasn’t eating,” Tompkins said. Both eagles received weeks of supportive care, including fluids and Tomp- kins’ famous “mouse slurry,” which doesn’t contain any actual mice but rather contains the same ratio of fat, carbohydrates and protein as Staff photo by E.J. Harris Samantha Castoldi, with Blue Mountain Wildlife, releases a female juvenile bald eagle as Lynn Tomp- kins records video on her phone Tuesday at McKay Reservoir in Pendleton. a mouse. Tompkins initially planned to release the eagles at the McNary National Wildlife Refuge across the Columbia River, but weather kept interrupting those plans. Instead, arrangements were made to bring the birds to the nearby McKay Creek Refuge, where Tompkins said they should have plenty of food. “The winter has been especially hard on our deer and elk,” she said. “Bald eagles are essentially scav- engers.” As Castoldi opened the doors to each carrier, the eagles burst out with a whoosh and quickly maneu- vered out of sight. “They flew very well,” Tompkins said. “They’d been ready to go for a while.” ——— Contact George Plaven at gplaven@eastoregonian. com or 541-966-0825. “If you look at what happened with (Hurricane) Katrina, where they landed is where they tended to stay,” he said of people fleeing the disaster. “I don’t know if we can house that many.” At the same time, some people in Eastern Oregon would join one of the 50 nonprofits on the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters registry and head west to assist in cleanup efforts. Those with medical training can get pre-credentialed now with the State Emergency Registry of Volunteers to provide medical services. Commerce The earthquake could prove crippling to some businesses, especially those that depend on shipping commodities to the west side of the state. But Umatilla County emergency manager Tom Roberts said other local businesses could see a boon from refugees, volunteers, media and government workers who would likely spend weeks in the county or at least pass through. “With that increased population expectancy, the potential is if business owners are prepared, and if they’ve encouraged their employees to be prepared, there is a potential for them to see a windfall,” he said. The Oregon Office of Emergency Management HAS an emergency preparedness scorecard that helps businesses assess how resilient they would be in a natural disaster and asks the “tough questions” about whether they should reopen. Roberts said that if owners and employees are personally prepared for a disaster, they will be able to return to work more quickly. The business also needs to have plans in place for communication and the possibility they may need to function for a while without electricity or internet (see sidebar). Customers also need to be prepared for the fact that THE businesses may not immedi- ately reopen, or may operate on a cash-only basis for a while after the disaster. Mental Health A month after the quake there would likely be more stability in meeting physical needs, but mental and emotional needs will also be present. After Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans, the city’s residents experienced increased rates of PTSD, depression and anxiety. Cascadia, with its destruc- tive powers and aftershocks that will likely run for weeks, could produce similar effects. Monique Dugaw, communications director for the Cascades region of the Red Cross, said the nonprofit has volunteer mental health professionals that it would call upon to help victims of Cascadia. Steve Eberline, a preparedness presenter for Red Cross, said people will be in a better place mentally after a big disaster if they have discussed it, thought about it and prepared for it ahead of time. “A family plan is part of psychologically preparing for the event,” he said. “A lot of people don’t want to talk about it, because thinking of your child trapped at school across the river, it’s a tough conversation to have.” He said his family keeps card games and books in their 72-hour kit, to provide a “sense of normalcy and comfort” if they had to live in a tent or emergency shelter for a while. The Red Cross also keeps toys for children in its emergency shelters. Services As life begins to stabilize in eastern Oregon, organi- zations like school districts will have to figure out how to carry on in the face of a “new normal.” Mike Kay, operations manager for Hermiston School District, participates in meetings for Umatilla County’s local emergency preparedness committee. We're Celebrating 22 Years! • WIN $200 CASH eveNy 30 minutes • WIN $2,000 CASH at midnight! DNawings ThuNs, FNi and Sat • 5pm to 11:59pm LEARN ABOUT FUTURE TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS PLANNED FOR EASTERN OREGON 1-2-3 The Oregon Department of Transportation invites you to attend a Public Video Conference Meeting regarding the Draft 2018-2021 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The 2018-2021 STIP identifies major Oregon transportation projects proposed for construction between 2018 and 2021. Meeting participants will hear information on how projects are selected for funding and review projects identified for the eastern Oregon region. Interested parties are encouraged to attend this meeting at a site in your area, or connect on-line with your computer, tablet or smart phone (see below for web connection details). He said the school district has relocation plans in place to evacuate students in the event of an emergency. It also plans to offer its build- ings and staff as resources to the Red Cross, National Guard and other responders. “We anticipate we, and any facilities we have, becoming readily available staging areas,” he said. Kay said so far the district has been mostly focused on what would happen in the first month after Cascadia and hasn’t spent much time discussing how it would accommodate a large influx of children from the west side. As the district has built new schools, it has built them to seismic standards. If Eastern Oregon only sees light shaking during Cascadia and its aftershocks, the damage to school build- ings in Hermiston could be minimal. However, with variables such as time of year unknown, Kay said how soon school would start back up again is “the million dollar question.” Other organizations have similar questions. Roberts said many of them have been invited to an all-day Cascadia Earthquake Preparedness Summit on May 12 to discuss “areas to work on” as the region continues to prepare for Cascadia. “We don’t have all the answers yet, but we intend to start working on them this spring,” he said. ——— Contact Jade McDowell at jmcdowell@eastorego- nian.com or 541-564-4536. GIVEAWAY! FEBRUARY 27 IT’S AS EASY AS — Steve Eberline, preparedness presenter for Red Cross $122,000 C ASH B ASH Oregon Department of Transportation STIP PUBLIC MEETING “A lot of people don’t want to talk about it, because thinking of your child trapped at school across the riv- er, it’s a tough con- versation to have.” WIN up to $500 every Sunday! $7,500 Drawings start Sunday February 19 to March 26 1pm to 8pm DoubleDown Grand Prize drawing March 26 $1,000 in chips! NEW automatic entries Date/Time: Feb. 27, 2017• 6-8 p.m. Pacific Time (Ontario site: 7-9 p.m. Mountain Time) Meeting Locations: Eight eastern Oregon sites listed below 1 2 3 Attend at one of these eight meeting sites Feb. 27, 6-8 p.m. Burns - Harney County Courthouse La Grande - Eastern - Oregon University Basement Mtg. Room, 450 N. Buena Vista Inlow Hall, Room 013, One University Blvd. John Day – Oregon Telephone Conf. Room, Boardman - Blue Mountain Comm. College 155 W Main Street 300 NE Front Street Baker City - Public Library Enterprise - Wallowa County ESD 2400 Resort Street, Baker City, OR 107 SW 1st Room #105 Pendleton - Blue Mountain Comm. College Ontario - OR Dept. of Transportation Office Emigrant Hall Rm. 128, 2411 NW Carden Ave. 1390 SE 1st Ave. (7:00 p.m. Mtn. Time – Ontario site) Or, connect remotely to the Feb. 27 meeting via computer, tablet or smart phone. If you can’t make it to one of the above meeting sites, you can connect to the meeting on-line at Zoom.com. Type https://zoom.us/join in your internet browser, enter Meeting ID: 175-119-566 and password: odotstip This Zoom connection information is also posted on the ODOT Region 5 web (see below) Busy Feb. 27? View the STIP information anytime at www.tinyurl.com/odot-region5. There you will find project listings, maps, comment forms and other information about Oregon’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Program. Have questions about the meeting, Zoom connection or ODOT website, call ODOT Public Information Officer Tom Strandberg at 541-963-1330 (email: thomas.m.strandberg@odot.state.or.us). This meeting is open to the public and accommodations will be provided to persons with disabilities. To request an accessibility accommodation, please call 541-963-1330 or statewide relay 711 at least 48 hours in advance. Meetings sites are accessible to persons with disabilities per ADA requirements. We hope to see you Feb. 27 WIN up to $600 in FREEPLAY Wednesday’s February 15–March 29 $1,000 GNand PNize DNawing MaNch 29 at 7pm Play Guess and Win game at an Receive 1 guess per 222 base slot points earned on Wednesdays. Must be a Vista Club Level member to participate. Justin ShandoN WORLD'S ULTIMATE Elvis TICKETS ON SALE NOW! 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