We continue to move our way through Oregon Ready following the Eugene Water & Electric Board's Pledge to Prepare to be “2 weeks ready” for disaster situations.
The July checklist involves securing an additional day of food, water, and cash, more propane or cooking fuel, and a whistle or noise alerting device.
While the full program involves a long checklist of items and tasks, this month KLCC’s Love Cross had an experience that made her realize that even the smallest amount of preparedness can pay off in a minor emergency. She shared her experience with Michael Dunne on Oregon On The Record.
Michael Dunne: KLCC's Oregon Ready series focuses on taking small steps towards disaster preparedness, and our own Love Cross has been on her own disaster preparedness journey, and she joins us now to give us an update. Love, what is this, like month seven of your year-long series? How's it going?
Love Cross: Yeah, month seven. It's just flying by and it's going well, Michael. I have really been learning so much about this topic as I follow the Eugene Water & Electric Board's pledge to Prepare Program. And just to remind listeners, the Pledge to Prepare program is a 12-month program. So it's all about small steps each month that at the end of the 12 months, you should be “2 weeks ready” to shelter in place. And that's because in an extreme situation like say, a catastrophic earthquake, it could take local, state, and federal agencies about 2 weeks to have resources in place. So, as I go through this process, one thing I've heard is that while everyone pretty much knows that major disasters like wildfires or the eventual Cascadia earthquake are true realities for us here in Oregon, many people just see disaster preparedness as a list of chores. So there's some reluctance or apathy. But I've also learned that any small amount of disaster prep can make a difference. And, and that's even if it's like a minor inconvenient emergency.
Dunne: Yeah, and I want to hone in on something you said because I heard you tell a story this morning during your shift in Morning Edition about how you had to put your own emergency preparedness, skills to the test. Tell our listeners what happened.
Cross: I sure did, and I was so glad to have already taken some steps. So a few weeks ago, I woke up to no running water. A water main on my street in South Eugene had broken while water was just rushing down the hill outside my house, nothing was coming out of the taps. But thanks to my earlier efforts, I was prepared for exactly this kind of situation. So I grabbed one of my stored water jugs and was able to brush my teeth, wash my face, make coffee and oatmeal, and even flush the toilet. I shared this story with Jenny Demaris, an emergency specialist with EWEB at a recent disaster preparedness event, and, and here's what she said:
Jenny Demaris: That is a great example, and you might reference it as dress rehearsal for a real disaster, because having that security and knowing that you are independent and you have the stability that you need to maintain your daily life and daily operations, and if you happen to have kids at home, or even pets, you are able to take care of your family. But yeah, it's really about the dress rehearsal for When things are really bad.
Cross: She was so right. One simple step I took months ago, just storing some water really gave me exactly what preparedness is supposed to provide. That's independence and a peace of mind when something unexpected went wrong. And I have to say, Michael, it was very empowering to feel like I was in control of the situation, but of course I had no control over the broken water pipe or when it would be fixed.
Dunne: Yeah, you know, Love, and something I really like about your series is it's not like you're building some sort of emergency compound. These are really small steps that are inexpensive and very doable for pretty much anybody.
Cross: That's right. And that's kind of the design of the Pledge to Prepare 12-month program. And I've come to learn that preparedness isn't really about just stockpiling supplies. It's about giving yourself some options when something goes wrong, something major and something fairly minor, like what I experienced.
Dunne: Yeah, and you talked about how you saw Jenny Demaris at a recent disaster preparedness fair. Tell us about your conversation.
Cross: Yeah, so earlier this month I went to an event at the YMCA in Eugene. They had several people that were tabling for their organizations, of course, EWEB, that's where Jenny was, the American Red Cross had some volunteers there, Eugene Springfield Fire, Lane County Emergency Management, and Eugene EmComm. You might remember I did a piece on them about their emergency radio communication volunteers earlier in Oregon Ready. So I lingered around and I was hearing the representatives interact with people who came by to check things out. And the question I heard over and over again from each of those tables was, “are you signed up for Lane Alerts?” And it was kind of shocking because I'm obviously ensconced in this world right now, but many who came by were like, “no, what's Lane Alerts?” So, if you're listening and you're in that camp, I want you to know that Lane Alerts is the emergency notification system. It's used by local response agencies in Lane County to send critical safety messages. And all 36 counties in Oregon have these kinds of alerts. There's Lincoln Alerts, Deschutes Alerts, Douglas Alerts, and so on. Basically, you sign up and then in an emergency, you'll receive warnings through text messages, emails, or phone calls, whatever you choose for events such as wildfires, severe weather, floods, hazardous materials, urgent evacuations, and the like. So that was the main message from those representatives at that disaster preparedness fair. It's very easy to sign up for your county's alert system. A quick online search will take you to your county's emergency management page and find those details and how to sign up. And of course, you know, we are smack dab in the middle of wildfire season right now. Things can happen so quickly as far as wildfires are concerned. So having a way for emergency managers to let you know if you need to be ready, be set, or go now is really critical.
Dunne: So what's next for Oregon Ready?
Cross: Well, the Pledge to Prepare list for August has tips for securing your water heater — that could be very important, like in an earthquake. It's not too hard to do. But next month I'll also be exploring mental health as it pertains to disaster preparedness. Like I said earlier, some really view all of this as just a list of chores. So I'm encountering such a spectrum of how people feel about being prepared. There are those who really cross off every item and maybe even go to some extremes, and those who don't feel the need to take any steps at all. It's the, ‘oh, I'll be fine,’ or ‘that won't happen to me’ mindset. So I'll be exploring that from the psychological sense next month.
Dunne: Well, it's a great series and a lot of great information for people. Love Cross, thanks so much for doing it and thanks so much for coming in and talking to me.
Cross: Thanks for having me, Michael.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
