How the City Prepares Together

September is National Preparedness Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness about the importance of being prepared for emergencies.Governor Tina Kotek recently issued a Proclamation recognizing September as Preparedness Monthin Oregon.

As Preparedness Month comes to a close, we are highlighting some of the ways that our City prepares for a range of hazards.

As climate change increases the intensity and frequency of extreme weather, flooding, and wildfires - and as we prepare for the effects of the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake - having a plan is critical. But preparedness is also about being ready for routine events that could interrupt our typical way of doing business.

Citywide preparedness involves dedicated staff from all parts of our City. Here are some highlights on how the City prepares for a range of hazards:

Portland Bureau of Emergency Management

• The Portland Bureau of Emergency Management (PBEM) has supported 18 incidents/events this year, including four City-declared emergencies.
• We recently celebrated the 30-year anniversary of Portland Neighborhood Emergency Team (NET)volunteers, a program that has grown to 1,070 volunteers, representing 80 neighborhoods. NETs are Portlanders trained by PBEM and Portland Fire & Rescue to provide emergency disaster assistance within their own neighborhoods. Learn more about NETs athttps://www.portland.gov/pbem/neighborhood-emergency-teams/volunteer.
• PBEM is coordinating a Citywide exercise called IronOR, in October, which is part of a Statewide exercise supported by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), on practicing responses to a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.
• PBEM continues to support continuity of operations planning (COOP) for City bureaus, gathers and supports Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD), and provides incident command system trainings to the region.

Environmental Services

• By reconnecting and restoring the city's floodplains and working with nature to manage stormwater, Environmental Services is reducing flood risks across Portland. Restoring floodplains and allowing creeks to flow more naturally provides a natural defense against heavy rain by increasing water absorption and reducing the volume of stormwater rushing into our systems. Portland's rain gardens and other green infrastructure also play a vital role by catching and slowing stormwater runoff. Thanks to these efforts, flooding has been reduced for many streets, homes, and businesses throughout Portland. Learn more at https://www.portland.gov/bes/protecting-rivers-streams/watershed-restoration.
• The Springwater Wetlands and Floodplain Restoration Projectwill be the third floodplain project east of the I-205 Freeway in the Lents and Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhoods. Environmental Services is also designing two more restoration projects along Johnson Creek, the West Lents Restoration Project, and the Johnson Creek Oxbow Restoration Project.
• The Secondary Treatment Expansion Program (STEP) - the largest improvement project at the Columbia Boulevard Wastewater Treatment Plant since the 1970s - will help protect public health and the environment by adding seismic resilience to critical portions of the plant, improving operational efficiency, and increasing the plant's capacity to process larger volumes of wastewater, especially during wet weather events and high-flow conditions.

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability

• Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund (PCEF) Cooling Portland program has delivered and installed nearly 13,000 cooling units to Portlanders most at risk for heat-related illness. Learn more at portland.gov/bps/cleanenergy/about-cooling-portland.
• PCEF is investing in the Mt. Scott Community Center to make it a community resilience hub, providing shelter and services during extreme weather and other hazard events.

Portland Bureau of Transportation

• Working around the clock for a week in the January ice storms, hundreds of Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) staff worked to keep The Portland Streetcar, BIKETOWN, Portland Aerial Tram and most TriMet bus routes operational, even as repeated storms brought down hundreds of trees and power lines and halted some regional public transit service. The public flocked to the bureau's social media channels for daily updates.
• PBOT partnered with other Public Works bureaus to host a Lunch & Learn event on emergency preparedness. The online meeting featured speakers from PBEM and other organizations who shared preparedness tips and city staff to Oregon Department of Emergency Management's Be 2 Weeks Ready Program and will continue to promote this tool now that it is launched. A recording of the one-hour video is available to city staff only here. Slides are also available here.
• The number of earthquake resilient bridges in Portland continues to grow. The Ned Flanders Crossing in Northwest Portland and Blumenauer Bridge in Northeast Portland opened in recent years. With federal funding, the Burgard Bridge in North Portland will be replaced with an earthquake ready lifeline on the Peninsula. Thanks to local funding, a replacement of the Northeast 42nd Avenue Bridge over Lombard Street will provide space for people biking and walking, even after an earthquake.

Photo courtesy of Mick Hangland

Portland Parks & Recreation

• Portland Parks & Recreation's (PP&R) Urban Forestry department crews respond to hazardous situations and emergency needs citywide resulting from severe weather in Portland.
• Have your trees evaluated now to help prepare for winter weather.
• Call 503-823-TREE and push 1 for the fastest way to report tree emergencies on City property, including public streets and roads.
• Learn more from this videoabout PP&R's Urban Forestry team's storm response efforts.
• Large trees are to be protected and cherished; they provide immense environmental and community benefits.

Portland Water Bureau

• Construction began on the Bull Run Filtration Facility, which will allow the Water Bureau to meet regulations to treat for Cryptosporidium, but also helps the Water Bureau be better prepared for a wide array of risks to our regional water system like wildfires in the watershed, large storm events, and other natural or human-caused disasters.
• The bureau started developing an exercise to implement our Backbone Isolation Plan, what we would do immediately after an earthquake to manage the flow of water.
• Crews also installed 30,000 feet of new, more resilient water main; and installed, renewed, or repaired more than 400 hydrants. This new infrastructure helps improve the City's ability to respond to a variety of disasters and makes our city more resilient.