Community preparedness — Oregon
Wildfire, Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, ice storms, and volcanic hazards from the Cascades. OSU Extension in all 36 counties. 30+ ham radio clubs. CERT teams from Portland to Burns. Oregon faces compound disasters on a geological scale.
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36
County extension offices
3
NWS forecast offices
30+
Amateur radio clubs
17
Community colleges
Where to plug in
Oregon's hazards are as varied as its landscapes. The coast faces Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami risk — potentially the most dangerous natural hazard on the continent. The Willamette Valley deals with flooding, ice storms, and wildfire smoke. Eastern Oregon faces drought and wildfire. The Cascades carry volcanic hazard. OSU Extension in all 36 counties anchors community resilience across all of it.
Oregon State University Extension serves all 36 counties. Programming spans agriculture (hazelnuts, grass seed, berries, wine grapes, dairy), horticulture, food safety, nutrition, 4-H, forestry, marine extension, and community development. Oregon's diverse agricultural economy and rural forest communities are deeply served by extension.
The Master Gardener program trains volunteers for Oregon's varied microclimates. Extension runs food preservation workshops, Firewise and defensible space education, earthquake preparedness (Cascadia), and farm disaster recovery programs. After the 2020 Labor Day fires, extension agents helped agricultural producers across multiple counties navigate disaster programs.
Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OEM) coordinates the state's all-hazards emergency program. Oregon's EM planning is shaped by three major hazard categories: Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) earthquake and tsunami, wildfires, and flooding. The CSZ is a particular focus — a full rupture could generate a magnitude 9+ earthquake and a devastating tsunami along the coast.
CERT programs are active across Oregon. Multnomah (Portland), Washington, Clackamas, Marion (Salem), Lane (Eugene), Jackson (Medford), and other counties run programs. The 2020 Labor Day fires — which burned nearly 1.2 million acres in 72 hours and forced mass evacuations across Jackson and surrounding counties — accelerated CERT enrollment statewide. Training is free.
The American Red Cross Oregon Region serves the entire state through chapters in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Medford, Bend, and other communities. First aid, CPR, AED, and water safety classes are offered year-round. Oregon Red Cross is experienced with wildfire-specific shelter operations and Cascadia earthquake preparedness.
During the 2020 Labor Day fires, Red Cross opened evacuation shelters across southern Oregon as Talent, Phoenix, and Medford area communities evacuated. The organization maintains Cascadia-specific disaster response plans that would activate for a magnitude 9 earthquake affecting the entire coast and Willamette Valley simultaneously. Volunteer entry points include shelter operations, disaster assessment, and feeding.
Oregon has over 30 amateur radio clubs in the ARRL Oregon Section. For Cascadia earthquake preparedness, ham radio is especially critical — a full CSZ rupture could damage or destroy the communication infrastructure along the entire coast and Willamette Valley. ARES teams train specifically for post-earthquake operations and wildfire evacuation communications.
Getting licensed costs $15 for the exam and about $35 for a basic handheld radio. Study at hamstudy.org. Clubs in Portland, Salem, Eugene, Medford, Bend, and throughout the state host exams regularly.
Three NWS offices serve Oregon: Portland (western OR, the coast, and the Willamette Valley), Medford (southern OR and the Siskiyous), and Pendleton (eastern OR). Each runs SKYWARN spotter training. Oregon's fire weather monitoring is especially active given the state's wildfire risk.
Oregon's weather hazards include severe windstorms off the Pacific, ice storms in the Willamette Valley and Columbia Gorge, flooding in the coast range and valley rivers, wildfire across eastern and southern Oregon, and volcanic hazard from Cascade peaks. The Cascadia earthquake/tsunami hazard underlies everything. Training is free.
Oregon has over 130 public library locations overseen by the State Library of Oregon. Multnomah County Library (Portland metro), Salem Public Library, Eugene Public Library, and Jackson County Library Services run extensive programming. Oregon's libraries serve communities across an enormous geographic range.
Oregon has 17 community colleges including Portland Community College, Chemeketa CC (Salem), Lane CC (Eugene), Rogue CC (Medford), Central Oregon CC (Bend), and Blue Mountain CC (Pendleton). They offer EMT certification, fire science, wildland firefighting, welding, automotive, marine technology, and nursing programs.
Why this matters
On Labor Day weekend 2020, exceptional fire weather — extreme heat, dry conditions, and powerful east winds — created a perfect firestorm across Oregon. In just 72 hours, nearly 1.2 million acres burned. The cities of Talent and Phoenix in Jackson County were largely destroyed. Communities across the Willamette Valley, the Cascades foothills, and the Coast Range were threatened. Half a million Oregonians were under evacuation warnings or orders at the same time.
In southern Oregon, the community response was immediate in towns that had organized before the fires came. Evacuation coordinators activated networks of neighbors with trailers who helped livestock owners move animals. CERT volunteers managed evacuation centers. Ham radio operators provided communications for emergency management when cell networks were overwhelmed.
Red Cross opened shelters across Jackson, Douglas, Marion, and other counties. Extension agents helped displaced agricultural producers document losses. Community organizations throughout the state organized supply deliveries to fire evacuees. The communities with the best-organized volunteer networks were the ones that evacuated most efficiently and recovered most quickly.
Oregon's 2020 fires also brought Cascadia earthquake preparedness into sharp focus — if a labor day wind event can cause this level of simultaneous statewide emergency, a magnitude 9 earthquake would be an order of magnitude more challenging. The organizations on this page exist to build the capacity Oregon will need for whatever comes next.
The foundation
Community resilience begins with a household that can take care of itself. Cover the first 72 hours, then extend outward to your street, your neighborhood, your town.
Start with the first 72 hours