Emergency Preparedness

Tillamook and Josephine counties have both requested refrigerated trucks to store bodies. Most of Oregon's emergency planning has centered on different kinds of disasters.

In the wake of 116 deaths — and counting — OPB asked first-response, disaster-planning and communications experts for their takes on how the state should protect Oregonians from extreme weather.

We learn about a recent survey on how mass shootings are covered in the news, hear about how emergency managers are planning for the eclipse, and then sit down with artist and writer Nicole Georges.

The state of Oregon has announced a new round of taxpayer-funded grants to help schools and other public buildings better withstand a major earthquake.

We learn about a new safety alert system in Portland. OPB’s Olympia correspondent Austin Jenkins fills us in on the eventful last few weeks of the Washington legislative session. We hear about tribal fishing villages along the Columbia that the federal government has neglected. And we listen back to a conversation with Gayle Tzemach Lemmon about a group of female combat troops who saw combat long before the military opened such roles to women formally.

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Surviving a megaquake in the Northwest is about more than having enough food and water. In the moments after the shaking stops, treating injuries and finding a safe shelter are paramount.

Preparedness experts recommend that residents of disaster-prone areas have supplies available to remain self-sufficient in the days and weeks after an event like a megaquake.

In this installment of our On the Job series, we talk with people who volunteer to be emergency responders.