WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2018
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9
NEWS
Great Shakeout points to preparation
By JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
STAFF WRITER
On Thursday morning,
students at Highland Hills
Elementary School scram-
bled under their desks and
waited for instructions.
As Principal Jake Bacon
directed them, they learned
important tips for what to do
in an earthquake.
Students
throughout
Hermiston School District
participated Thursday morn-
ing in the “Great Oregon
Shakeout,” a statewide drill
to encourage schools to pre-
pare their students for an
earthquake.
At 10:18 a.m., Bacon
came on the intercom and
talked students through the
drill, telling them that if a
real earthquake happens,
things might be different.
“An earthquake is likely
to cause damage to the inter-
com,” he said. “Things may
fall off the walls. Remain
calm, and when the earth-
quake stops, be prepared to
evacuate the building.”
He added that there may
STAFF PHOTO BY JAYATI RAMAKRISHNAN
First grade students at Highland Hills Elementary School sit
under a table during the Great Oregon Shakeout earthquake
drill Thursday morning.
be aftershocks, and that if
they are outside, to go to a
clear area away from power
lines and buildings.
“You need to be alert,”
Bacon said.
Students
listened,
crouching under the desks.
When the drill ended, they
emerged, and discussed
with their teachers other
things to be aware of during
earthquakes.
Teacher Emily Adams
told her first grade students
the most important thing
to do in an earthquake is to
protect their heads.
“What do you do when
an earthquake happens?”
she asked students. “Get
under a table, and don’t
move anything.”
Earthquake preparation
has become more of a focus
across the state recently
— from drills to seismic
upgrades in schools and on
bridges.
Scientists have found
that the Cascadia Subduc-
tion Zone, a 600-mile fault
that runs from Northern Cal-
ifornia to British Colum-
bia and is located about 70
to 100 miles off the West
Coast, could see a massive
earthquake. Geologists esti-
mate that there is a 7 to 12
percent chance that a major
earthquake and tsunami will
rock the Pacific Northwest
within the next 50 years,
and a 37 percent chance that
Southern Oregon and North-
ern California will experi-
ence a large earthquake in
that time.
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown
released a plan this week
called “Resiliency 2025,”
which lays out six goals
for earthquake prepara-
tion statewide. The first
goal listed is to continue
state investments in seis-
mic upgrades of schools and
emergency service buildings
in Oregon.
Brown’s plan lists three
programs that need to be
funded, including the Ore-
gon School Capital Improve-
ment Matching Program.
By 2021, the plan says, the
state must also have a for-
mal assessment of school
seismic rehabilitation pro-
grams, and complete an eco-
nomic forecast for how to
reduce risk and fund emer-
gency services like hospi-
tals, fire stations and dis-
patch centers.
Other goals include
implementing a statewide
earthquake warning system
by 2023, ensuring 250,000
vulnerable homes have two
week’s worth of supplies,
and strengthening local
emergency
management
organizations to have bet-
ter staging areas and supply
chains.
According to the state’s
report and action plan, Ore-
gon’s Department of Geol-
ogy and Mineral Industries
conducted an assessment in
1999, which underscored the
state’s lack of preparation
for a major seismic event,
and predicted an economic
loss of $12 billion and more
than 7,800 casualties. It pre-
dicted that 17,300 house-
holds would be displaced,
and more than 12,400 peo-
ple would need emergency
shelter.
In Hermiston, two of the
elementary schools are more
than 35 years old, and dis-
trict officials have repeat-
edly called for upgrades to
the buildings.
Bacon said Highland
Hills, which was built in
1980, has not been exam-
ined specifically for vul-
nerabilities during an earth-
quake, but he said the layout
of the school could cause
problems after one.
“One of the challenges
with an open campus is
accessibility to the cam-
pus during an emergency,”
Bacon said. “The ability to
keep our students from pub-
lic access becomes a real
challenge.”
Hermiston Communica-
tions Officer Maria Duron
said the district has not
recently applied for any
grants for seismic upgrades.
Candidate forum focuses on Umatilla’s improvements, future
By JADE MCDOWELL
STAFF WRITER
Optimism was in the air
on Thursday night as Uma-
tilla residents packed into
the Umatilla Chamber of
Commerce & Visitor Center
to hear from candidates for
the city council and mayor.
Candidates spoke of their
love of Umatilla and excite-
ment for the city’s progress,
and audience members ask-
ing questions praised the
quality of the school district
and the city’s growth. One
woman said the city had
never looked so good.
It was a markedly dif-
ferent vibe from four years
ago, when residents were
showing up to city council
meetings to complain about
empty buildings downtown,
unkempt properties, pan-
handlers and a prolifera-
tion of businesses, such as
strip clubs and smoke shops.
They testified that they were
embarrassed by the city’s
appearance, and one woman
said Umatilla had turned into
“a little Tijuana sideshow.”
A lot has changed since
then, something that incum-
bents have pointed out in
their campaigns. The city
has stepped up code enforce-
ment and created a spring
cleanup event. The cham-
ber and the local museum
have added events to engage
the community. Two major
housing developments have
come in. New businesses,
such as Rae’s Dayz Diner
have opened, and Amazon
data centers have provided
money for new parks and
recreation projects.
“There are a lot of mov-
ing parts to the city’s suc-
cess,” Mayor Daren Dufloth
said.
Dufloth was joined by
challenger Mary Dedrick;
city council incumbent
Mark Keith and his oppo-
nent Corinne Funderburk;
Leslie Smith, who is run-
ning for the seat Mel Ray
has decided to leave; and
Josy Chavez, who is running
unopposed to replace Selene
Torres-Medrano.
While incumbents ran
on the city’s successes, the
newcomers also tended to
keep it positive instead of
attacking what the city has
been doing. Funderburk,
a language arts teacher at
Umatilla High School, said
she was thrilled to be rais-
ing her three teenage boys in
Umatilla. Now that they are
older and she has more flex-
ibility, she said, she wanted
to get more involved with
the community.
“I’m so proud of Uma-
tilla and of living here,” she
said.
Funderburk is one of
three candidates who work
for the school district —
Dedrick is a volunteer coor-
dinator at McNary Heights
Elementary School and
Chavez is an administrative
secretary for the district.
Questions for the can-
didates at Thursday night’s
forum ranged from what the
role of the planning commis-
sion is to how the city should
support small businesses.
One recurring theme was
how the city could encour-
age more citizen involve-
ment, particularly with the
Hispanic community.
Chavez said she believes
having a bilingual councilor
helps. She pointed to when
she worked in the office
at one of the schools, and
her co-worker who didn’t
speak any Spanish said
when Spanish-speaking par-
ents walked in and saw that
Chavez wasn’t there they
would leave.
Dedrick also pointed
to her experience with the
schools as a volunteer coor-
dinator, saying in her experi-
ence it helps to recruit spe-
cific people and address
whatever might hold them
back from getting involved.
She told the story of a parent
who said she would love to
help but she didn’t think her
English was good enough.
Dedrick convinced her to try
it out, saying she could leave
any time she felt uncomfort-
able. The woman loved it so
much she now works at the
school.
Keith said he speaks
“very good” Spanish and
helped start the Mexican
Independence Day celebra-
tion in Hermiston. Chavez
asked Keith in Spanish if he
knew when Mexican Inde-
pendence Day was, to which
he (correctly) answered in
English that it was Sept. 16.
In their closing state-
ments, candidates reiter-
ated the positive things
they saw in Umatilla and
laid out how they believed
they could help that growth
and improvement continue.
Smith, a retired nurse, said
she had a love of Umatilla’s
people and plenty of time to
dedicate to the city.
“I want to serve,” she
said. “I think I can do good
things.”
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