disaster prepardness Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

When ‘The Big One’ Hits The Northwest, What Could You Do With A Few Seconds Warning?

By Tom Banse February 26, 2021

Smartphone users who opted in to a test of the West Coast earthquake early warning system got an early taste on Thursday of what is to come. Mobile phones from Seattle to Olympia blared with an alarm for imaginary incoming shaking. The earthquake warning system -- already operational in California -- will launch for the general public in Oregon on March 11 and statewide in Read More

Across The West, Communities And Landowners Prepare For Their Own Paradise Wildfire Scenario

By NWPB News December 15, 2019

Towns living among forests have taken notice after recent deadly wildfires in Northern California, particularly after Paradise. But for the rural community of Foots Creek in Southern Oregon, wildfire has long been on their radar. CREDIT: April Ehrlich/JPR News

It’s been a little over a year since the Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise, which impacted thousands of lives in Northern California. The disaster also alarmed people across the West, who are now asking themselves: Could a fire like that happen here? Read More

Wildfire Lessons Teach Counties How To Communicate With Spanish Speakers In Other Disasters

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa October 17, 2019

About 20 homes burned in this Pateros neighborhood, which included the mayor at the time, Libby Harrison, and her mom’s home behind her. The community church behind it survived, but the pastor’s home next door burned. CREDIT: Scott A. Leadingham

Communication is key in emergencies. That’s especially true when the people you’re working to protect don’t speak English. That’s why Washington emergency management offices are working on their language skills — whether for a fire, earthquake or any emergency. Read More

Scientists Warn Oregon Lags Behind Other West Coast States In Disaster Preparedness

By NWPB News July 29, 2019

The Eagle Creek Fire as seen from the Cascade Locks Hatchery. To keep hatchery fall chinook from dying because of the fire, Oregon officials released them early. CREDIT: OREGON DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, who included the $12 million in funding for the projects in her proposed budget last year, has told reporters the decision not to expand the early detection systems was one of the "biggest disappointments" of this year's legislative session. Read More

‘Kits For Kids’ Take Preparedness Up A Notch At Tsunami-Vulnerable Oregon School

By Tom Banse June 21, 2019

Cannon Beach Academy director Amy Fredrickson with one of the school's 55 survival kits. CREDIT: TOM BANSE / NW NEWS NETWORK

How's this for emergency preparedness? An elementary school located in the tsunami inundation zone in Cannon Beach, Oregon, has equipped every student with a personal disaster survival kit. Continue Reading ‘Kits For Read More

Navy Hovercrafts Could Be Hulking Lifesavers After ‘The Big One’ Hits Northwest

By Tom Banse June 4, 2019

The Navy hovercraft involved in Monday's demonstration are known as LCACs in military lingo. CREDIT: TOM BANSE / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

People visiting or living along the Pacific Northwest coast may be completely cut off after "The Big One" —the feared magnitude 9.0 Cascadia earthquake and tsunami. For that reason, the U.S. Navy has been scouting landing sites along the coast for disaster relief delivery by sea. The quake preparations ticked up a notch on Monday, with a practice delivery of supplies using Read More

How The Northwest Can Learn From Indonesia’s 2018 Earthquake

By Tom Banse April 19, 2019

Damage at the toe of a landslide triggered by the Sept. 2018 Palu-Donggala earthquake. CREDIT: DANIEL HUTABARAT / GEER

Last September, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake followed by a tsunami devastated a region of Indonesia, killing more than 4,300 people. Two Oregon State and University of Washington professors who surveyed the aftermath say the far-away disaster should elevate attention to quake-induced landslide risks here at home in the Pacific Northwest. Read More

‘Bowl Of Jello Effect’ Raises Risk Of Tall Buildings Collapsing In Cascadia Quake, Scientists Say

By Tom Banse March 13, 2019

Skyscrapers in downtown Seattle and other Northwest city centers could sway more than anticipated in The Big One, according to research presented this week. CREDIT: TOM BANSE / NW NEWS NETWORK

A research project to model the effects from a Cascadia megaquake found higher risk of collapse for modern tall buildings than previously thought. Continue Reading ‘Bowl Of Jello Effect’ Raises Risk Of Read More

Nearly 4,500 Older Brick Buildings In Washington Could Be Dangerous In Quake, New Report Says

By Tom Banse March 10, 2019

Damage from fallen bricks in Seattle's Pioneer Square district after the 2001 Nisqually Quake. CREDIT: KEVIN GALVIN / FEMA NEWS

The State of Washington has completed its first statewide inventory of buildings prone to crumble or collapse in an earthquake. The bottom line: There are an awful lot of unreinforced, old brick or stone buildings that could be dangerous — a similar number to estimates in Oregon. Read More

Investigation: Federal Disaster Aid Disproportionately Goes To White Communities, Despite Need

By NPR News March 5, 2019

A home in the Lost Valley area of Manville, N.J. The numbers spray-painted on the front of the house indicate that it was bought as part of a federal disaster program. Claire Harbage/NPR

NPR analyzed records from a Federal Emergency Management Agency database of more than 40,000 buyouts and found that most went disproportionately to whiter communities. Continue Reading Investigation: Federal Disaster Read More

Bricks Could Rain Down On Your Head During The Next Major Quake. These Proposals Want To Fix That

By Tom Banse February 22, 2019

Brick or unreinforced concrete buildings could crumble in an earthquake, like this one in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2011. CREDIT: SCHWEDE66 VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS - TINYURL.COM/YCFSUL7Z

Thousands of old brick, stone and concrete buildings in the Pacific Northwest could crumble in the next strong earthquake. To face that challenge, measures pending in the Oregon and Washington legislatures would set up grant programs to help owners of dangerous buildings make seismic safety upgrades. Read More

There Were Few Major Pacific Northwest Earthquakes Over The Past Decade. What Does That Mean?

By Tom Banse February 16, 2019

File photo. The joke around the PNSN office is that recently departed director John Vidale (left) did a good job suppressing earthquakes for the past decade. TOM BANSE / N3

Most people in the Pacific Northwest know we live in earthquake country. A new analysis published this week, however, notes that major quakes in the region have gone on a puzzling hiatus over the last decade. Continue Read More

Reunification 101: Some Northwest Schools Moving Beyond Emergency Drills And Toward Aftermath

By Tom Banse October 15, 2018

Teacher Jeremy Thomas holds up an all-accounted-for sign after the school evacuation. CREDIT: TOM BANSE / N3

It's a sad fact of life that K-12 students must practice for calamities such as earthquakes, fires, lockdowns or active shooters. Now a few public schools in the region are roping in parents and guardians to practice for the aftermath. Read More

Have You Planned For Number Two After ‘The Big One’?

By Tom Banse August 29, 2018

Sue Mohnkern of Washington County Public Health (Oregon) spearheaded the Emergency Toilet Project. CREDIT: TOM BANSE

It's not something we typically discuss in polite company, but disaster planners say that when water and sewage service fails, finding a place to poop is a big deal. Continue Reading Have You Planned For Number Two After ‘The Big One’?Read More

With No High Ground, Ocean Shores Considers How To Escape A Tsunami

By Tom Banse June 12, 2018

A tsunami warning siren in Ocean Shores, Washington. CREDIT: TOM BANSE

Ocean Shores, Washington, has no natural high ground inside its city limits. On Tuesday night, residents will meet with government and university experts to discuss whether to build a tsunami evacuation platform as in a few other Northwest coastal towns. Read More

Prep For ‘The Big One’: Building Water Treatment Rigs To Use After Major Northwest Quake

By Tom Banse March 30, 2018

Jim Buck of Joyce, Washington, shows off the community's portable water filtration unit for use in case of a major earthquake. CREDIT: TOM BANSE/N3

Statewide disaster preparedness messaging aimed at households and businesses calls for one gallon per person per day as the goal for emergency drinking water. Scooping water out of a creek or pond is dicey because of the widespread giardia parasite, aka "beaver fever." So inventive residents on Washington's Olympic Peninsula got creative. Read More

Cascadia Earthquake Prep: Parents Want Stockpiles At Schools To Prepare For ‘The Big One’

By Tom Banse March 13, 2018

Planned student walkouts this week bring attention to reducing the threat of school shootings. One group of Northwest parents is pushing schools to prepare better for another kind of disaster: a major earthquake. Continue Read More