Disaster Preparedness: Emergency vs. Disaster

Emergency | Disaster | Natural Disasters | Human-caused Disasters |
Measuring Disasters / Mapping Risk | Possible Responses? |
Levels of Response: Preparedness, Policies, Plans, Resources

Emergency

• An emergency occurs usually suddenly, at an individual / local level,
  and requires immediate professional attention:
• e.g., Medical Emergencies: heart attack, stroke, accident
• e.g., Home Fires
• Your Actions: call 911
• Responders: Local Fire, Paramedics, Police

Disaster

• Hazards are events that pose a risk to vulnerable societies.
• Disasters are major disruptions caused by hazards.
• A disaster affects more people than an emergency,
  often with large-scale destruction of life and property
• Some areas of Oregon have experienced one or
  more of these natural disasters: Earthquake, Wildfire, Flood,
  Heat, Hurricane (Typhoon), Landslide, Thunderstorm, Tornado,
  Tsunami, Volcano, Winter Storm
• Our focus here: natural disasters expected in the Rogue Valley:
  Wildfires (and Smoke), Earthquakes, Floods [sections 6-9]
• Your Actions: keep you and family safe; get informed;
  follow your plan; rely on your own resources until other help is available.
• Responders:
• Local Fire, Paramedics, Police are likely overwhelmed for a significant period of time
• Family & Neighbors check on and care for each other,
  e.g., Map Your Neighborhood (MYN)
• Trained Volunteers assist & augment local emergency personnel and city staff,
  e.g., Ashland CERT (Community Emergency Response Team), Ham radio operators
• Regional, state and federal governmental and relief organizations provide and coordinate staff and resources,
  e.g., Rogue Valley Emergency Management (RVEM);
  Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM); Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA);
  note: most "Emergency" Management organizations can scale-up to handle "Disasters"
• "Save the Earth?
  Earth will be just fine (it’s seen worse).
  It’s ourselves we have to save." ~Karen Grove,
  our local OLLI geologist, highlighting who's really
  harmed by climate change or natural disasters.
• The quotes (on right) are from a presentation by James Roddy,
  Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries
  (DOGAMI) about Disaster Risks: volcanoes, tsunamis,
  and especially Cascadia earthquake
• Each disaster label below links to description on ready.gov
• Ashland Emergency Preparedness
  Evacuation Zone; Evacuation Levels; Get Ready; Wildfire Info; Fire Adapted Ashland;
  Chamber of Commerce Preparedness Toolkit; Smokewise Ashland; Nat. Weather Service
• Jackson County Emergency Management
  Citizen Alert; Wildfire & Smoke; Get Ready Rogue; Jackson County Plans;
  News & Information; Resources; Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan
• Rogue Valley Emergency Management (RVEM): Jackson & Josephine Counties
  Citizen Alert; Incident Info; Get Ready Rogue: Know Your Hazards; Preparedness Fundamentals;
  Special Considerations; Kit Types; Resources; Preparedness Calendar; Prep U
• Other information may be included from organizations above
  CERT, OEM, DOGAMI, FEMA -- acronym overload!;
  plus Ashland Fire&Rescue (AFR), American Red Cross (ARC);
  NASA; Nat. Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin. (NOAA);
  Nat. Weather Service (NWS); US Geological Survey (USGS); ...

Natural Disasters

• Avalanche; Wikipedia
• Drought; ARC; USGS; NWS, drought.gov
• Earthquakes; OEM, OEM:Cascadia;
  Cascadia Playbook .pdf; 2018;
  The Oregon Resilience Plan -- Cascadia:
  Oregon’s Greatest Natural Threat .pdf; 2/2013
  Living on Shaky Ground: How to survive earthquakes and tsunamis in Oregon .pdf; 2018
  DOGAMI, Cascadia video;
  Wikipedia; CERT video 1:41;
  ARC; NASA; USGS; Pacific Northwest Seismic Network
  
  course section: 8. Earthquake
• How to Survive a Devastating Earthquake -- and Firestorm and other disasters; Wired; 6/15/2023
• Extreme Heat, Extreme Cold; OEM; ARC: Heat Wave, Winter;
  NASA: Severe & Winter Weather;
  NWS: Heat, Cold, Winter, Excessive Rainfall and Winter Weather;
  NWS to phase out 'advisory' forecast term too vague; Mail Tribune; 3/8/2021;
  Wikipedia: Blizzard, Freezing rain, Heat Wave;
  CERT videos: Heat Wave 2:00, Winter 1:37;
  Everything You Should Do Now to Plan for a Winter Weather Blackout LH; 2/7/2022
• Floods; OEM; DOGAMI; ARC; NASA;
  NWS, National Rivers; USGS; Wikipedia; CERT video 2:50; course section: 9. Flood
• What Should You Do When You're Expecting the Apocalypse?
  in a small town in Kentucky, an immense replica of Noah's ark looms over the countryside; NYT; 1/5/2021
• Hurricanes, Cyclones, Typhoons; ARC; NOAA; NASA; NWS; Wikipedia;
  CERT video 1:31; Pacific NW Columbus Day Storm, aka Typhoon Frieda 1962
• The Safest Places to Be During a Hurricane LH; 8/18/2023
• Landslides; DOGAMI; ARC; NASA; USGS; Wikipedia;
  CERT video 5:37; course section: 9. Flood:Landslides
• Space Weather solar electromagnetic bursts; NWS, forecasts
• Thunderstorms & Lightning; ARC; NWS: Thunderstorm, Lightning, forecasts;
  Wikipedia: Lightning ; CERT video 2:29
• What to Do If You're Struck by Lightning (and How to Avoid It) LH; 7/7/2022
• Tornadoes; ARC; NWS: Tornado, Wind, forecasts; Wikipedia; CERT video 1:30
• Tsunamis; OEM; DOGAMI; ARC; NWS, tsunami.gov;
  Wikipedia; CERT video 3:18
• Volcanoes; OEM; DOGAMI; ARC; NASA; USGS; Wikipedia; CERT video 7:31
• Wildfires; OEM; AFR; ARC; NASA; NWS, Fire Weather;
  USGS; Wikipedia; CERT video 1:37;
  course section: 6. Wildfire
• One disaster can trigger a domino effect --
  immediate or delayed -- of compound, cascading disasters
  e.g., Earthquake => Floods / Tsunami => Landslides ...
  Drought / Lightning => Wildfires ...
  Climate Change => ??
• A seemingly remote disaster can still lead to local problems,
  e.g., Wildfires in California or Siberia => severe smoke in Rogue Valley
  Volcanoes in Cascades => ash, fires in Rogue Valley
• "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" ~The Clash
• Different strategies & timeframes for different disasters & situations:
  [Stay] shelter-in-place: e.g., earthquake, winter storms;
  [Go] evacuate (if in harm's way): e.g., wildfire, flood
• Although there are some unique considerations specific to each disaster,
  the same general planning, organization and preparation
  for floods, wildfires, earthquakes and severe weather
  can apply to many disasters and situations, regardless of scope.

Human-caused Disasters

• NFPA Hazard Diamond with most labs, the hushed horror stories are about something like dimethylmercury
  or prions, but occasionally you'll get a weird lab where it's about the soda machine or the drop ceiling; XKCD.com
• Air Pollution Kills 10 Million People a Year.
  Why Do We Accept That as Normal? NYT; 7/8/2022
• Biohazard / Bioterrorism; Wikipedia
• Chemical / HazMat; ARC
• Climate Change / Resilience: fema.gov; ARC;
  Ashland Climate & Energy Action Plan; 3/2017
• Cybersecurity
• Explosions
• Hazardous Materials (HazMat); Wikipedia
• Industrial Incidents: NASA
• Radiation; ARC; Wikipedia; CERT video 2:04
• What to Do If a Nuclear Missile Hits Your City LH; 7/12/2022
• Oil Spills: NASA
• Pandemic / Infectious Disease / Biohazards;
  CERT video 4:57
• Power Outages / Utility Failure; ARC; Wikipedia
• Terrorism: Mass Attacks in Crowded, Public Spaces; ARC; Wikipedia:Civil Unrest

Other Disasters

• Some disasters may be memes, imagined, exaggerated, planet-wide, civilization-threatening,...
• Alien Invasions
• Asteroids / Comets / Meteors
• How Worried Should You Be About a Space Rock Destroying the Earth? LH; 7/18/2022
• 'Don’t Look Up' Review: Tick, Tick, Kablooey NYT; 12/23/2021
• An Asteroid Impact Simulation Is Currently Underway
  -- and It’s Absolutely Terrifying Giz; 4/28/2021
• How to Survive a Killer Asteroid Wired; 4/9/2021
• Killer Bees / Murder Hornets
• Oreo Built a 'Doomsday' Vault to Protect Its Recipe and Cookies
  the Global Oreo Vault is just down the road from the famed Svaldbard Global Seed Vault in Norway;
  it holds just “the Oreo recipe and a large stockpile of cookies” -- BYO milk;
  coordinates: 78° 08’ 58.1” N, 16° 01’ 59.7” E; 10/26/2020
• Zombie Attacks (CDC)
• The Apocalyptic Events You Should Actually Worry About
  AI, pandemic, nuclear holocaust, ecosystem collapse; LH; 9/21/2023
• The Real Difference Between the 'Apocalypse,' 'Armageddon,' and 'Doomsday'
  apocalypse: a supernatural being reveals mysteries or the future to a human, imminent cosmic cataclysm;
  armageddon: location of the final battle between earthly evil and God, as laid out in the New Testament;
  doomsday: last day of the world’s existence or, more broadly, a time of great danger;
  LH; 10/7/2022

Measuring Disasters / Mapping Risk

• Cassandra: daughter of Priam with the gift of prophesying,
  e.g., misfortune or disaster, but fated never to be believed.
• Unlike Cassandra, we can predict only the likelihood of
  disasters, but based on past history, climate change trends,
  and human folly, we can expect more to occur,
  with increased intensity and impact.
• Like Cassandra, scientists' warnings might be treated
  as "false alarms" or "fake news".
• Can qualitative English words
  accurately convey scope and seriousness of a disaster?
• e.g., Accident, Act of God, Adversity, Apocalypse, Armageddon,
  Big Bummer, Calamity, Catastrophe, Collapse, Debacle, Devastation,
  Doomsday, End-Time, Epic Fail, Fiasco, Holocaust, Major Mishap,
  Misfortune, Nightmare, Paroxysm, Ruination, Tragedy, Upheaval, World of Woe, ...
• Quantitative measures: intensity (Category: on right),
  size of area, # casualties, $ damage, ...?
• Many sites list / map past & current disasters and risks:
• FEMA Disaster Declarations:
  search by state, year, incident type, declaration type; interactive map
• FEMA National Risk Index (NRI);
  Counties Map; Jackson County results .pdf
  The National Risk Index is an online tool to help illustrate the nation's
  communities most at risk of natural hazards. It is made possible through
  a collaboration between FEMA and dozens of partners in academia; local,
  state and federal government; and private industry. The Index leverages
  best available source data to provide a holistic view of community-level
  risk nationwide by combining multiple hazards with socioeconomic and
  built environment factors. It calculates a baseline relative risk measurement
  for each United States county and census tract for 18 natural hazards, based
  on Expected Annual Loss, Social Vulnerability, and Community Resilience.
  The 18 natural hazards included are: Avalanche; Coastal Flooding;
  Cold Wave; Drought; Earthquake; Hail; Heat Wave; Hurricane; Ice Storm;
  Landslide; Lightning; Riverine Flooding; Strong Wind; Tornado; Tsunami;
  Volcanic Activity; Wildfire; Winter Weather
• National Center for Disaster Preparedness: US Natural Hazards Index
  visualize historical and projected data for numerous natural hazards [below right]
• inciweb.nwcg.gov an interagency all-risk incident information management system
• National Weather Service (NWS): Weather Related Fatality and Injury Statistics: 1996-2019
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA): Natural Hazards Viewer;
  Severe Weather
• preventionweb.net (UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction): Disaster Risk
• EM-DAT: The International Disaster Database Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED)
• ourworldindata.org: Natural Disasters Data
  *OFDA: USAID: Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance
• Wikipedia: List of Disasters in the United States by death toll;
  List of accidents and disasters by death toll;
  List of countries by natural disaster risk
• worldatlas.com: Most Prone to Natural Disasters: Countries; US States (data from EM-DAT)
• Category:Lists of disasters
• Emergency and Disaster Information Service (EDIS) event list & map
• USGS: National Geologic Map Database
• NIH Public Health Emergency and Disaster Research Response (DR2)
• ESRI Disaster Response Program
• globalincidentmap.com
• Statista: Natural disasters in the U.S. - Statistics & Facts some free summaries; 9/9/2020
• These Interactive Tools Reveal Your Home's Future Flood, Heat, and Wind Risk LH; 3/13/2023
• What Happens When a Cascade of Crises Collide? global polycrisis, systemic risk; NYT; 11/13/2022
• 'Do You Really Want to Rebuild at 80?' Rethinking Where to Retire. NYT; 11/18/2023
• To see climate risks your home faces, check out two new tools:
  Risk Factor Pro (free for 1st yr);
  Climate Risk and Resilience Portal (ClimRR);
  Verge; 11/7/2022
• These US states are the most vulnerable to climate change
  FL; CA; LA; TX; MS; CNet; 11/1/2021
• U.S. Disaster Costs Doubled in 2020, Reflecting Costs of Climate Change
  $95 billion in damage came in a year marked by a record number of named Atlantic storms,
  as well as the largest wildfires recorded in California; NYT; 1/7/2021
• Every Place Has Its Own Climate Risk. What Is It Where You Live?
  enter a county; climate risk only -- no earthquakes, etc. NYT; 9/18/2020 [on right]
• Mapping America’s wicked weather
  and deadly disasters Wash Post; 4/25/2019

Possible Responses to Disasters?

• “There is only one kind of shock worse
  than the totally unexpected:
  the expected for which one has refused to prepare.”
  ~ Mary Renault, The Charioteer
• Procrastinate, Pray, Panic, Humor; Apocalypse Bingo
• Wealth: the well-to-do will do quite well (don't worry about them).
• Off-the-grid, island villa / bunker? Doomsday prepping?
• What Does It Take to Build a Disaster-Proof House?
  a few homeowners across the country are trying to find out, by experimenting with new (and old) construction techniques; NYT; 11/12/2021
• Will These Places Survive a Collapse? Don’t Bet on It, Skeptics Say. NYT; 8/3/2021
• The Island Brokers Are Overwhelmed NYT; 10/9/2020
• Natural Disasters by Location: Rich Leave and Poor Get Poorer
  each big catastrophe like a hurricane increases a U.S. county's poverty by 1 percent; SciAm; 7/2/2017
• Denial: "It wasn't bad; I've seen worse."
• 'Don’t Look Up' Review: Tick, Tick, Kablooey NYT; 12/23/2021
• Pollyanna: someone foolishly or blindly optimistic
• Migrate: to where the 'grass is greener';
  'pick your poison': experience different disasters
• If you did find someplace that's safer now,
  e.g., Measuring Disasters / Mapping Risk,
  might it be affected later by climate change?
• Distraction: games, movies, puzzles, etc.
• Play Pandemic board game
• Watch disaster films, e.g., Andromeda Strain,
  Armageddon, Avalanche, Don't Look Up, Twister, etc.
• video: A Quake! A Quake! Animaniacs; 2:25
• Solve crossword puzzles during pandemics, wars, etc.;
  there are also many puzzles about disasters and response.
• Emergency! [partial solution]; .pdf;
  many clues: "Call ___!" for various real and fictional responders ;-)
  [on right] Merl Reagle; Sun, 1/31/2021
• NYT Learning Network: Disasters; Earthquakes;
  Hurricanes; Volcanoes; Weather; Winter Weather
• 74A. "This is the focal point / Above a seismic source /
  Where an earthquake proceeds / With devastating force"
  = EPICENTERPOEM [solution] Wash. Post; Sun, 2/21/2021
• Steve's crosswords: MYN; CERT; Red Crossword
• Misc. disaster preparedness (mostly free-form) puzzles:
  #1 p.18; #2 p. 87; #3; #4; #5; #6; #7;
  #8; #9 p. 7; #10 p. 8; #11

Levels of Response: Preparedness, Policies, Plans, Resources

• A plan is great to have -- but ask your elected officials how often it's updated,
  whether the recommendations are being implemented,
  and how often disaster exercises or simulations are held.
• National: ready.gov, videos;
  fema.gov: A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management:
  Principles, Themes, and Pathways for Action 12/2011
• Ashland City Councilor appointed to FEMA advisory council
  Tonya Graham one of 12 appointees to the FEMA National Advisory Council; 12/2/2021
• State: Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM): oregon.gov/OEM/
• Emergency Operations Plan: Basic, Complete 3/2017;
  Climate Change & Public Health
• The Oregon Resilience Plan -- Cascadia:
  Oregon's Greatest Natural Threat; 2/2013
• City / County / Regional
• Ashland Emergency Preparedness
  Evacuation Zone; Evacuation Levels; Get Ready; Wildfire Info; Fire Adapted Ashland;
  Chamber of Commerce Preparedness Toolkit; Smokewise Ashland; Nat. Weather Service
• Jackson County Emergency Management
  Citizen Alert; Wildfire & Smoke; Get Ready Rogue; Jackson County Plans;
  News & Information; Resources; Natural Hazard Mitigation Plan
• Rogue Valley Emergency Management (RVEM): Jackson & Josephine Counties
  Citizen Alert; Incident Info; Get Ready Rogue: Know Your Hazards; Preparedness Fundamentals;
  Special Considerations; Kit Types; Resources; Preparedness Calendar; Prep U
• Response to Almeda, Obenchain Fires focus of study funded by Jackson County
  report to be presented to Board of Commissioners in 4-6 months; 12/30/2020
• Rebuilding After A Wildfire? Most States Don't Require Fire-Resistant Materials
  JC, Medford, Ashland building codes; quotes from AFR's Ralph Sartain; NPR; 11/25/2020
• course section: 2. Ready, Set, Go!
• City
• Central Point: Hazard Mitigation Plan 9/2020 (draft)
• Eagle Point: Emergency Operations Plan 4/2013
• Jacksonville: Emergency Operations Plan 3/2004
• Medford: medfordoregon.gov/beprepared: evacuation zones; evacuation checklist;
  Citizen Alert; neighborhood travel routes; preparedness tips
• Medford launches new disaster tools MailTrib; 5/12/2021
• Preparedness; Evacuation Zones 6/2012
• Phoenix: Emergency Operations Plan 8/2013
• Shady Cove: Emergency Operations Plan 5/2012
• Talent: Emergency Operations Plan .pdf; 5/2012
• Ashland: ashland.or.us/evacuate: 10 Evacuation Zones; Alerts; Get Ready; FAQ
• Emergency Operations Plan; .pdf; 7/31/2018
  e.g., building codes & zoning, emergency planning, evacuation routes, education, disaster drills/scenarios
• Almeda After Action Review (AAR): Lessons Learned; .pdf; 30 pp; 12/2020;
  based on: Almeda Fire Public Engagement Survey Presentation; Ashland Council Study Session; .pdf; 333 pp; 11/30/2020
• Ashland and Fire District 3 collaborate to build synergy in fire and emergency response service .pdf; 11/2/2020
• Climate & Energy Programs; Forest Resiliency; Firewise: ashlandfirewise.org;
  course section: 6. Prepare for Wildfire
• CERT: ashlandcert.org
• Neighborhood: Map Your Neighborhood: ashland.or.us/myn;
  course section: 10. Get Involved: CERT, MYN
• Individual / Family / Household: recommendations and resources:
  Ashland is Ready (AIR): ashland.or.us/air
  Emergency Preparedness Guidebook .pdf, 2017
  -- followed, updated, expanded in this course (next 11 sections)
• What to Do FYI: The 'drop, cover, and hold on' advice only applies to earthquakes.
  If you encounter a mountain lion, you should absolutely not drop to the ground,
  crawl under it, and hold on to one of its legs; XKCD.com
• Multi-use emergency response center at Expo to break ground
  commercial kitchen, shower facilities included in roughly 120,000 sq. ft. facility; RVT; 1/26/2024
• America's Disaster Recovery System is a Disaster NYT; 10/28/2023
• How Wirecutter's Experts Approach Emergency Preparation Coverage NYT; 10/3/2023
• This Is How To Survive Disaster: 6 Secrets From Research 9/2023
• Like Finland, Imagine Everything That Could Go Wrong NYT; 2/13/2023
• Preparing Financially, Before the Storm Hits cost and frequency of weather-driven
  disasters on the rise; NYT; 9/9/2022
• How to Prepare for a Disaster, Emotionally and Mentally Wired; 8/23/2021