Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tsunami Advisory In Effect

Coast and River Travelers: The National Weather Service has issued a tsunami advisory for the entire Oregon Coast and part of the lower Columbia River effective 330 PM Pacific. This is NOT a watch or warning. For more information, go to http://weather.gov/portland .

Monday, September 28, 2009

Clatskanie Exercise on Wednesday 9/30

Clatskanie Elementary School will be involved with an earthquake exercise drill on Wednesday, September 30, 2009 from 9-11 AM. Residents and visitors to the Clatskanie area may notice emergency vehicles and evacuating students near the school building; this is all part of the drill.

Participants in the exercise include, but are not limited to, the following: Clatskanie School District, City of Clatskanie, Clatskanie Rural Fire Protection District, Columbia 911 and Columbia County Emergency Management.

If you have questions, please contact Derek White at 503-366-3905 or Derek.White@co.columbia.or.us .

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Red Flag Expires at 5 PM Today (9/22)

The National Weather Service in Portland has set the expiration time of the Red Flag Warning for Columbia County for 5 PM today (Tuesday 9/22). Rain is not likely in the forecast, however, so please be careful regarding fires. Check with your local fire district office regarding open burning.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Red Flag Warning

Columbia County is under a Red Flag Warning from midnight Sunday, Sept. 20 through noon Tuesday, Sept. 22. Please take care to not start ANY fires during this time period. Report ANY and ALL fires immediately to 911. This is a potentially dangerous situation in which fires can spread quickly. Please help do your part to prevent them!

For more information, see the National Weather Service--Portland Office website:

http://www.weather.gov/portland

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Why Prepare in Columbia County?

Why should one prepare for emergencies in Columbia County? What types of things could happen here? Well.....

* We have had three presidentially-declared disasters in the past three years due to winter storms, sometimes stranding people at home for days or forcing them to evacuate;

* We have a major highway transportation route coming through our county via U.S. 30, which carry a lot of trucks hauling potentially hazardous chemicals;

* We have industrial plants either located in or near our county that produce or use massive amounts of potentially hazardous chemicals;

* We live alongside a major international shipping route called the Columbia River, carrying cargo from ports halfway around the world;

* We have a rail line in the county that can carry potentially hazardous chemicals;

* We are near a major international airport (Portland International Airport) and have many large jets flying overhead at almost all hours of the day;

* We are vulnerable to wildfires due to the amount of forested lands we have;

* We are near a major fault zone called the Cascadia Subduction Zone, which can cause massive earthquakes that will equal that of a 9.0 magnitude earthquake;

* We have had and can still have landslides at various parts of the county.

These are just a few of the possibilities. This is not meant to scare you but instead to make you aware of the fact that we do have things that have and can hurt us if and when things don't go right. Failing to plan is planning to fail, so make sure you know what to do during any emergency. Just a few moments of preparedness can save your life or the life of someone you work or live with. Go to http://www.ready.gov to get started!

Thursday, September 3, 2009

September is National Preparedness Month

As you may or may not know, September is National Preparedness Month. It is a time to review or develop emergency plans both at home and at work in order to make sure everyone is doing what they can to be ready for any kind of emergency. Here are a few things you should do this month:

* Develop or review emergency plans at home and work.
* Put together a preparedness kit filled with supplies that will help you survive at least 72 hours. If you have already put such a kit together, you need to check the kit and replace anything outdated or worn.
* Check fire extinguishers and replace smoke detector batteries.
* Look for safety hazards around the home, such as worn electrical cords or bad door locks.

This is just a list of examples. For more information, go to www.ready.gov . If you need assistance with any preparedness kits or plans, feel free to contact Columbia County Emergency Management at 503-366-3905 or Derek.White@co.columbia.or.us .