Portland NET - Neighborhood Emergency Teams

Amazing turnout in person and Zoom for PBEM’s “Big Tent” gathering last night to discuss Portland’s disaster resilience in general, and how NET/BEECN can better serve the breadth and depth of our community.

Batten down the hatches and be prepared to clear your storm drains!

A potent atmospheric river event will cause heavy rainfall Monday - Wednesday, leading to the potential for river flooding as well as flooding of urban areas and small streams into Thursday. Now is the time to prepare! Visit www.weather.gov/safety/flood for more info.

Preliminary numbers are 7.7 magnitude and around 4 minutes of shaking. Myanmar is no stranger to earthquakes. The plate boundary between the India Plate and Eurasia Plate runs approximately north-south, cutting through the middle of the country. These two plates move past each other as they are moving at different rates along a transform plate boundary (a bit like the San Andreas Fault in California). Although such strike slip earthquakes are of smaller magnitude than the largest earthquakes seen in subduction zones such as we have along the coast of the PNW, like to the south in Sumatra, they can still reach magnitudes 7 to 8 and cause severe destruction, as we are seeing in Myanmar today

Myanmar and Thailand earthquake live updates: Huge quake kills at least 144 in Myanmar, with many trapped as buildings collapse Hundreds are also injured in Myanmar, according to an army general, as the 7.7 magnitude quake is felt in neighbouring countries.

How’s it looking in your neighborhood NETs? Gear ready to go?

A Good size shake right at the southern end of the Cascadia Subduction Zone...hopefully not the zipper coming unstuck.

Northern Calif. tsunami warning issued after 7.0 magnitude earthquake The earthquake hit the area on Thursday morning, according to the United States Geological Survey.

Could the age of advanced earthquake warnings be upon us?

Earthquake scientists are learning warning signs of 'The Big One.' When should they tell the public? For U.S. seismologists, Japan’s “megaquake” warning last week renewed discussion about when and how to warn people on the West Coast if they find elevated risk of a major earthquake.

Friends! Here is a post which features: Portland NET's 30th Anniversary proclamation, and the Council session. Enjoy!

Portland City Council Meeting AM Session 07/10/24 https://www.portland.gov/council/agendaAlternate stream: https://www.opensignalpdx.org/CityNet

Congratulations to the two NET cohorts that completed their training this weekend with a series of challenges designed to put what they’ve learned into practice. Thank you to all the trainers and volunteers that make NET Final Exercises possible.

After a week of snow, wind, and ice, residents and NETs share their reflections on preparedness. Worth a read!

After unforgettable storm, here’s how Portland area residents are prepping for the next big one Residents across the region are talking about what they’re adding to their emergency kits and how they’re otherwise taking heed.

NETs deploying for Damage Assessment (on foot), how are your neighborhoods looking?

Portland has now been grappling with severe winter weather for a week, and undoubtably we have all learned important lessons about personal and household preparedness. The City is full of stories of people helping each other; with rides, with food, shoveling snow/ice, etc. Many with damaged homes or power outages have sought shelter with friends. family, and neighbors. Our City agencies have put incredible effort into ensuring critical services and transportation. Hard hats off to the local and visiting line crews working around the clock to restore power.

As luck would have it we also are one week from the anniversary of the last big Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake in the depths of winter on January 26th, 1700. Calculations put that quake at approximately 9pm (based on how long it took the resulting tsunami to cross the Pacific and reach the coast of Japan). The prospect of such an event happening again during winter gives professional planners pause; what if all the power went out, and most major thoroughfares were not usable, and emergency responders could not reach medical emergencies and fires for a truly long period of time? There is no guarantee that our next quake will occur during a period of warm and dry weather, though that would be nice.

To the degree possible, now would be a good time to reflect on what worked and what didn't work, and how you could cope with a disruption measured not in days but in weeks or even months. Within that mental exercise consider too your neighbors; what can we do collectively...what must we do?