N OV . 2, 2016 • D ISASTER P REPARATION
3
FLORENCE, A CITY IN MOTION
How Oregon’s premiere coastal community is preparing its citizens for emergencies
mergency Management with-
in the City of Florence is a
coordinated effort between
the City Manager's Office, the Police
Department and the Public Works
Department, with support from our
other city programs and depart-
ments.
As a city, we plan for emergencies
varying from the typical storms to
the Cascadia earthquake and result-
ing tsunami. Our crews are constant-
ly monitoring the status of our infra-
structure in order to maintain high
service levels for our citizens.
The City of Florence is a founding
member of the West Lane
Emergency Operations Group
(WLEOG), which coordinates
regional emergency management,
preparedness, education, and
response. This group was formed
from the need to coordinate emer-
gency preparation and response
efforts in the wake of a Cascadia
event. Planning for the catastrophic
event allows our agencies to work
E
SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTO
together and coordinate efforts,
which results in our ability to
respond efficiently and effectively to
the more frequent and smaller
events.
A special publication of the
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
148 Maple Street
Florence, OR 97439
541-997-3441
www.TheSiuslawNews.com
Copyright 2016 •
Siuslaw News and Central
Coast Publishing • No part of this
publication may be duplicated
without permission
P UBLISHER
J OHN B ARTLETT
G ENERAL M ANAGER
J ENNA B ARTLETT
E DITOR
N ED H ICKSON
P RODUCTION
R ON A NNIS
F EATURES E DITOR
& D ESIGN / LAYOUT
C HANTELLE M EYER
A DVERTISING
S USAN G UTIERREZ – DIRECTOR
J EANNA P ETERSEN
A LISON T APLIN
O FFICE S UPERVISOR
C ATHY D IETZ
Both the City of Florence and our
WLEOG partner agencies encourage
citizens to prepare themselves and
their families for emergency situa-
tions.
Emergency Preparedness is essen-
tial for individuals and families. You
and your family need to take the
proper measures to be prepared in
case of a natural disaster. Mother
Nature can be very unpredictable
and, if you are prepared and have
the proper supplies on hand, then it
will help eliminate some of the
stress while you are trying to recu-
perate from an emergency situation.
Visit the WLEOG website for
information on what to include in
your emergency supplies at
www.wleog.org.
Visit www.ci.florence.or.us/em for
more information on Emergency
Management in the City of
Florence, including registering your
cell phone to receive emergency
alerts, tsunami information, tsunami
evacuation maps, individual pre-
paredness steps and what the differ-
ent tsunami siren tones mean.
— Submitted by Megan Messmer,
city projects planner and WLEOG
chairwoman
At expo, ‘Be Ready’ to learn
upplies for 72 hours might be OK
for a California-style, 30-second
earthquake — but not the kind
that is expected to happen here on the
Oregon coast. It is estimated that
coastal populations may be cut off from
services for a minimum of 10 days.
The Siuslaw News and West Lane
Emergency Operations Group planned
the Be Ready Disaster Preparedness
Expo in order to connect residents on
the coast with businesses and emer-
gency service providers to raise aware-
ness about disaster preparedness.
“This event is a great opportunity for
residents on the Oregon coast to learn
how to prepare for and recover from
disasters such as tsunamis, earthquakes
and floods,” Jenna Bartlett, Siuslaw
News general manager and event
organizer.
This free event will feature interac-
S
tive vendor booths, demonstrations and
seminars to help you better assist your
family and the community in the event
of a natural disaster.
Come and meet special guest and
keynote speaker Mykel Hawke, a US
Army Special Forces “Green Beret”
combat veteran with over 20 years of
combined military, government con-
tracting, and survival experience.
Other seminars include the Office of
Emergency Management, Oregon
Military Department, the University of
Oregon Department of Earth Sciences
and an Emergency Suturing class
taught by PeaceHealth emergency
physicians.
“There will be something for every-
body! Please plan to attend this impor-
tant and educational event,” said
Bartlett.
After all, it pays to be prepared.