JWN workshop offers preparedness resources for the whole community

Presenter: Jefferson Westside Neighbors offered an emergency preparedness workshop at the March 11 general meeting. JWN Vice Chair Sandra Bishop:

Sandra Bishop: I’m Sandra Bishop, vice chair of the neighborhood. I’m also chair of JWN Disaster Preparedness Committee. And the sign-up table is right there with the hard hat and a sign-up list for anyone that would like to join the committee. We really appreciate all of you being here tonight.

[00:00:27] Presenter: The Fellowship Hall at the First United Methodist Church was set up with multiple stations. Sandra Bishop:

[00:00:34] Sandra Bishop: So I’d like to get us oriented and point out the different stations or tables that we have.

[00:00:40] First we have the check-in table with our worthy volunteers with their raffle tickets. So if you didn’t get a raffle ticket, check in there.

[00:00:49] And then, we have what we’re calling ‘The Go-Bag Table.’ It’s really the go-bag and personal preparedness table. We have two very experienced CERT-trained folks who have been into preparedness for a long time. We have Carlos Barrera, who’s a member of FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team, which is the CERTs.

[00:01:14] He’s been involved since 2008, and Carlos is also one of the go-to people that really knows about preparedness. And he’s now a CERT trainer with a lot of experience in the expected Cascadia Subduction Zone.

[00:01:31] And we also have tonight, helping us out, Ed Ferren, who is also CERT-trained. He’s also active in Ready NW. And he is on the Bethel board, out in the Bethel neighborhood. So, thank you to both of you for being here tonight.

[00:01:46] We have the EWEB folks, who are at the water table. EWEB is very well prepared, and they have incredible resources on their site. We have Jenny Demaris, and with Jenny tonight is Robin Smith. And Robin is one of the communication specialists, and they’ve also donated a couple of prizes for the raffle. Look forward to that.

[00:02:08] Presenter: EWEB Emergency Manager Jenny Demaris:

[00:02:11] Jenny Demaris (EWEB, emergency manager): Hey everybody, Jenny from Eugene Water and Electric Board, and I want to tell you about an exciting presentation that we have coming up.

[00:02:18] We are co-hosting with our city of Eugene, so thanks to them, we have invited Oregon Department of Financial Regulation to come here to your Eugene community, and they will be doing a one-hour presentation on your financial readiness.

[00:02:33] What do you need to do to be ready for financial concerns, whether it’s post-disaster, an economic issue, perhaps you suffered a structure fire and your insurance company isn’t working with you? So we will have a public session from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at our (4200) Roosevelt (Blvd.) facility, April 24.

[00:02:54] And then we will also be able to livestream that. So if you don’t want to drive across town but you’re comfortable with the internet, you can sign up and register and you’ll be able to watch right there, from home. And then we’re thinking we should be able to record it and then it’ll be available on both our website as well as the city of Eugene.

[00:03:12] Not very often we get a subject matter expert to come right here where we’re at, and that financial readiness is one of the first and last pieces that we need for disaster recovery.

[00:03:22] So check our website, listen to the news, find that social media, and then April 24 we really hope that you’ll come out to see us and share that presentation with us.

[00:03:32] Presenter: That’s Emergency Manager Jenny Demaris announcing an upcoming session on financial readiness April 24. With the next station at the Jefferson Westside preparedness workshop, Sandra Bishop:

[00:03:45] Sandra Bishop: I want to bring up Tony to give us a little bit of a frame of what we’re looking at.

[00:03:51] Presenter: Tony Rosta:

[00:03:52] Tony Rosta (JWN preparedness volunteer): I’m Tony Rosta. I live a couple blocks from here. And as I’ve gotten on this committee, it is overwhelming to think about: ‘What is a disaster?’ Everything can be a disaster. The Cascadia Zone is going to be a big one, but there are all sorts of little ones in between.

[00:04:06] And as I thought about it, there’s a kind of a point of reference that I think most of us have, if we can remember back to January of last year. It was a little dress rehearsal for the big stuff that could happen. And somebody had to remind me of when it was, because once this stuff’s happened, it’s kind of out of your mind.

[00:04:23] But as you go around these booths or tables tonight, and as you think about this and talk with your neighbors, I’m hoping you will think about what you felt like in the three or four days when you couldn’t get out of your house. It’s not so far back that you won’t remember a lot of this.

[00:04:38] What did you wish you had? Did you wish you had some more coffee, some more TP? Did you wish you had the lifesavers that I happen to have, which are these little rubber things that go on your shoes, that I bought, you know, on a lark at Costco or something, with little cleats on the bottom there.

[00:04:53] Jerry’s had something like them for $10. I was able to go everywhere that I wanted to go. And I could even get to the store if I needed to, but everybody else, a lot of people trapped in their houses, and I understand there were maybe 700 ambulance rides during that ice storm because people fall, fell flat on their whatevers, you know, faces or wherever you landed.

[00:05:12] So just think about, if you can think back about a year or so in your house and, ‘Oh man, when’s this going to end?’ Think about what you wished you had. And as you do that, think about the next time you go to the store: If they have a sale on candles, maybe grab a couple extra candles. Not everybody can afford everything, but maybe a little extra food.

[00:05:31] You’re going to look at the go-bag here, and Carlos has got a lot of stuff there… It’s just close enough, I’m hoping that you can think back to your personal experience and remember that if you start small with the ice storm, that gets you sort of some of the way that you need to go with the bigger events.

[00:05:46] But, basically: camping gear. If you have some extra camping gear, you’re going to do well. So I just wanted to bring that to your attention and hope that’s helpful as you think about these issues when you go around. Thanks.

[00:05:56] Presenter: After indicating a sanitation station featuring bucket toilets, Sandra Bishop:

[00:06:01] Sandra Bishop: And then, we have two communication tables because we have wonderful people here from EmComm, which is the citywide communication system that you can sign up for.

[00:06:13] We have Craig Cherry, and then we also have Matt Albertson, and Barbara Smith. So please, they have lots of really good literature, and they can sign you up for the citywide system and really get you oriented.

[00:06:29] And then we also have Dan Solitz from our neighborhood, who is signing people up for the JWN network of communications.

[00:06:39] So be sure to sign up for both if you want to be in communication. Because the sign-up with Dan is going to result in the network within our neighborhood that connects neighbors. And then that will be connected into the larger system as well.

[00:06:55] Presenter: Volunteers use an inexpensive handheld radio called the FRS or Family Radio System. Their messages are collected and prioritized by the EmComm volunteers, who use ham radio frequencies to pass the high-priority messages to the emergency operations center. Many neighborhoods conduct radio drills once a month, with a citywide exercise once a year.

[00:07:19] With the final two stations, Sandra Bishop:

[00:07:22] Sandra Bishop: And then we have Ted Coopman at the backup power table. Ted is going to talk about solar and batteries.

[00:07:30] And then we also have, as guests, we have Full Access. We have Taylor and Amber Lee and it’s so wonderful. They’re going to be talking about what it means to have full access in disaster preparedness. So it’s wonderful to have you.

[00:07:48] Presenter: Full Access, here in Lane County since 2002, supports our community of neighbors with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Taylor and Amber Lee demonstrated a variety of aids to help the community prepare for the next disaster.

[00:08:04] If you live in the Jefferson Westside Neighborhood, you can drop in on the preparedness committee every fourth Thursday at noon, and a social hour at 1 p.m. Here’s Sandra Bishop.

[00:08:15] Sandra Bishop: The JWN Disaster Preparedness Committee meets once a month on a regular basis. We meet on the fourth Thursday of every month at noon until 1 or 2 p. m. I say until 1 or 2 because we have a meeting from noon to 1, and then from 1 to 2, anyone that wants to stay, to do networking. It’s been really good. It’s at the Grace Fellowship Church at 8th and Monroe.

[00:08:46] Presenter: You can get involved in preparedness on your own, with family and friends, or with your neighborhood association.

[00:08:52] For more information, see EWEB’s Pledge to Prepare, the new statewide program Be 2 Weeks Ready, and your neighborhood’s preparedness committee.