The INDEPENDENT, March7, 2001
Page 9
Red Cross volunteers practice disaster to prepare for real thing
A group of 35 Columbia
County Red Cross volunteers
held a disaster response drill at
Washington Grade School in
Vernonia on Saturday, Febru
ary 24, just a few days before
the earthquake that apparently-
surprised most people in north
west Oregon. The volunteers
set up a shelter, served meals
and handled donations for dis
aster victims, all over the
course of a few hours.
The Red Cross currently has
42 trained volunteers in Colum
bia County who are ready to re
spond to disasters ranging
from single-family house fires
to catastrophic floods. The
February 24 exercise was a
test of how well they can put
their training into practice.
“When possible, we try to
create a disaster drill with con
ditions as close as possible to
what the volunteers will face in
a real disaster,” said Emily
Hastie, Disaster Outreach Spe
cialist for the Oregon Trail
Chapter.
The volunteers started by
assessing feeding needs, in a
scenario about flooding that
displaced 50 people from their
homes. Volunteers planned
and prepared a lunch for the
disaster clients, set up the
shelter and worked with clients
who were lining up at the front
door. The drill also involved
students from the grade school
who helped set up cots, and
amateur radio operators who
tested communication capabili
ties.
Red Cross provides free
training for volunteer disaster
responders and disaster pre
paredness educators in Colum
bia County and the other five
counties in the Oregon Trail
Chapter. For more information,
call Hastie at 503-284-0011,
ext. 273 or e-mail <hastiee@
redcross-pdx.org>
Red Cross shows gains in county
Satisfied with a good day’s work, Red Cross volunteers and others involved in the disaster
exercise pause for a group photo.
Very little earthquake damage In Columbia County
Columbia County came
through the February 28 earth
quake relatively unscathed,
with only minor damage report
ed to two buildings. Elsewhere
in Oregon, damage was also
limited.
Ironically, John Clouse, Co
lumbia County Director of
Emergency Management, was
in Salem when the earthquake
hit, at a meeting with emer
gency management officials
from around the state. Among
the topics under discussion
was an earthquake drill being
planned for April 11.
“This is exactly why Colum
bia County needs to hold the
April 11 earthquake exercise
called Metroshake-01,” Clouse
said. “Emergency manage
ment personnel assigned to
positions in the Emergency
Operations Center (EOC) need
to become familiar with the
EOC procedures so that when
events like what happened
Wednesday occur, we are all
better prepared to protect the
life and property of the citizens
we serve,” Clouse continued.
While no injuries were re
ported in Columbia County,
Clouse expressed concern
over reports that many citizens
were seen running out of build
ings when they felt the shaking,
then standing close to the
building. Most people injured or
killed in an earthquake are
those who run in and out of
buildings or stand within 30
feet of a building, according to
Crouse.
Emergency management of
ficials suggest that when you
feel an earthquake, you should
immediately drop to the floor,
seek cover such as under a
desk, table or an interior door
way and hold onto that cover
so that you move with it. Also,
stay as far away from windows
as possible.
Much of the damage that oc
curs in an earthquake is from
items falling off of shelves.
Clouse suggests that people
survey their homes for items
that could fall when a small
amount of shaking occurs and
either move those items to a
safer location or secure them
with mortician’s clay. Items
large enough to cause injury
should be taken down and
B y Jim Buxton
placed on the floor.
is April 30, 2001. The contest
is open to everyone and entry
is free.
“Any poet, whether previ
ously published or not, can be
a w in n e r,” stated C hristina
B abylon, C ontest D irector.
“When people learn about our
Volunteers needed to plant trees
From page 1
the Boy Scouts Troop 201, Girl
Scouts, 4-H Clubs, students
from Vernonia High School,
Washington Grade School and
Pacific University, private land-
owners and watershed council
members have planted thou
sands of trees donated by the
Bureau of Land Management.
It is hoped that this tradition
will continue.
Everyone participating in
the program is covered for lia-
bility under the Natural Re
source Conservation Service
Earth Team V olunteer P ro
gram.
Landowners who would like
to have the ir river frontage
planted, who just need some
trees to plant or want to volun
teer to plant, may get more in
formation by calling Peyton at
503-429-2401, or Donna Hep
ler, Volunteer Planting Coordi
nator, at 503-429-3401.
Shelter agreements are in
place with 32 facilities, includ
ing Vernonia High School,
Cedar Ridge Sports Camp,
Washington Grade School and
Lincoln Grade School.
Participation in the Colum
bia Emergency Planning Asso
ciation and Emergency Man
agement Council groups is
continuing project.
Watershed members learn how
insects indicate health of stream
Wednesday’s quake is a re
minder that disaster can strike
ànywhere, anytime. The Amer
ican Red Cross and others
suggest that every home be
equipped with a 72 hour sur
vival kit, including food, water,
medications, clothes, flash
lights and batteries, cooking
utensils and tools.
A pamphlet entitled “Before
Disaster Strikes, How Families
and Individuals Can Prepare,”
is available from the Oregon
Trails Chapter by calling 503-
284-0011.
Poetry contest open to all ages, styles, skill levels
The International Library of
Poetry will award $58,000 in
prizes this year in the Interna
tional Open Poetry Contest.
All poets, particularly begin
ners, are welcome to try win
ning some of the 250 prizes.
The deadline for the contest
There are currently 42 Red
Cross Responders in Columbia
County, nine of them in Ver
nonia. During 2000, volunteers
responded to nine fires. Addi
tionally, canteen service was
provided to fire fighters in
Rainier.
Seven training courses were
offered throughout the county
with 51 people attending.
free p o e try c o n te s t, they
suddenly realize that th e ir
own poetic works of art can
win cash prizes, as well as
gain na tion al re c o g n itio n ,”
continued Babylon.
To enter, send one original
poem, any subject and style
to The International Library of
Poetry, Suite 19910, 1 Poetry
P laza, O w ings M ills , MD
21117. You may also enter
online at www.poetry.com
The poerp should be 20
lines or less and the poet’s
name and address should ap
pear on the top of the page.
Entries must be postmarked
or sent via the Internet by
April 30, 2001. The Interna
tio n a l L ib ra ry of P oetry,
fo u n d e d in 1982, is the
largest poetry organization in
the world.
Jeff Adams, a biologist with
the Xerces Society, presented
a report on the analysis of 1999
macroinvertabrate
(insect)
samples taken from the Ne
halem River and its tributaries,
at the February meeting of the
Upper Nehalem Watershed
Council (UNWC).
The samples, taken by vol
unteers trained to follow a strict
collection protocol, were sent
to a laboratory in Idaho for
analysis. Adams showed slides
and described what one would
likely find in the Nehalem. He
has presented the Council with
similar reports in previous
years, and his presentation is
improving each year. Next
year, Adams plans to have lam
inated field guides and CD-
ROMs categorizing local in
sects, to hand out to attendees.
He described the collection
method and assessment crite
ria, and added that, whereas
the use of volunteers to collect
samples is generally consid
ered a poor practice, the data
show that volunteer collection
in the Nehalem has been very
consistent. The laboratory
counts the number of different
kinds of insects in the sample,
and the number of each kind.
Then the sample is ranked into
three categories of stream
health: “No Impairment”, “Mod
erate" or “Poor".
The assumption is that the
more insect species and popu
lation that live in a body of wa
ter, the healthier it is. Following
are some of the results of
Macroinvertabrate populations
Fishhawk Lake, upstream is
Moderate; downstream, Poor.
Clear Creek, Poor.
Rock Creek, OK upstream;
Moderate downstream.
Buster Creek, Humbug, North
rup, Wolf, and Oak Ranch
Creek - No Impairment.
Adams said that laboratories
are continuing to standardize
their methods, but UNWC
deals with the best (most ex
pensive) lab. Dale Webb raised
the question of the possible
skewing of results by sampling
only in riffles. Adams answered
that the standard is to take
samples only from riffles,
though the state is looking into
sampling poolsand he will talk
with DEQ about sampling
pools.
In other business, Coordina
tor Maggie Peyton announced
that again this year, the BLM
has provided UNWC with a
large number of tree seedlings
for planting in riparian areas.
Jay Worley with the Oregon
Department of Forestry de
scribed the Conservation Re
covery Enhancement Program
(CREP). CREP exists to help
landowners offset the econom
ic burden of returning stream
banks to a vegetative state,
and to maintain them in that
state. Worley reported that
more and more landowners are
signing up for the program.
The Upper Nehalem Water
shed Council meets every
fourth Thursday at 7:00 p.m. in
the Mist-Birkenfeld Fire Hall on
Highway 202 between Mist and
Birkenfeld. The public is wel
come to attend.