Disaster Preparedness Training is available free to the Eugene/Springfield community, Tuesday. Citizens can learn about simple ways to be ready for situations when first responders are limited.
Oregonians could find themselves dealing with earthquakes, wildfires, or a tsunami. But it was last year's winter storms that left thousands of people without power for close to a week in some areas. Tuesday's workshop will focus on water storage, how to build a 72 hour survival kit, and adapting to long term blackouts in the electrical grid. Program Coordinator Patience Winningham says assuming the community can wait out a disaster is the wrong way of thinking.
Winningham: "Don't think that we've got food for two weeks to supply and feed the community, cause we don't. We've really got about three days worth of food to supply the community as a whole."
Winningham says the training isn't trying to scare everyone into thinking the worst will happen. She says if people leave the workshop with the goal of slowly building up preparedness plans and supplies, that's better than before.
The workshop is this Tuesday at the Emergency Training Facility on West 2nd Avenue in Eugene from 6 to 8 PM.
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