[Heritage] Emergency plans may be needed this weekend

[INFO Heritage * OPRD]

Emergency managers in western Oregon are keeping a close watch on developing conditions that may cause flooding beginning Saturday. They expect that 8 to 10 inches of rain could fall in higher terrain by the time the rain ends Sunday night and 3 to 4 inches in the Willamette Valley.

The flooding probably will not be as bad as the Christmas floods 50 years ago. The flooding is more likely to be similar to floods in 1993, 1999 and 2003.

Today is a good time for you and others to review your organization's pocket response plan (PReP) and emergency plans to see if they are up to date. If you don't have either of those plans, visit Oregon Heritage's emergency planning and recovery webpages at http://www.oregon.gov/oprd/HCD/OHC/Pages/disaster_list.aspx for lots of technical information about planning and recovery.

Other simple steps you can take are:

n  Make sure your historic materials and any chemicals are at least several inches off the floor.

n  Read Heritage Bulletin 27 about disaster planning and response at http://www.oregon.gov/oprd/HCD/docs/Heritage_Bulletins/HB_27_Disaster_%20Plan_and_Response.pdf

n  Check to see that emergency supplies are available.

n  Contact people who you expect or want to help you during an emergency. With this a holiday period, not all of them will be available or aware of the flooding potential.

n  Contact county emergency managers to let them know where your site is located and that you are preparing for flooding.

n  If you don't have a PReP or a disaster plan, contact Mike Gushard, coordinator of the Oregon Heritage MentorCorps, about having a mentor help create one during the coming months. Mike can be contacted at mike.gushard at oregon.gov<mailto:mike.gushard at oregon.gov> or 503-986-0671.

Once you have done all you can, take the time to look at the US Army Corps of Engineers website about the 1964 flood, which includes reports, photos and other information. It can be found at http://www.nwp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Water/FloodReady.aspx

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