Portland Bureau of Emergency Management: Difference between revisions

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| style="background:#72452d; color:white; text-align: center; border:2px solid white;"| '''<big>The Portland Bureau of Emergency Management</big>'''
| style="background:#7C4DA1; color:white; text-align: center; border:2px solid white;"| '''<big>General PBEM Volunteer Program Information</big>'''
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Introduction
| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[CPT Guidelines Creation and NETwiki Management]]
<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed">
 
<small>[[Purpose of Portland NETwiki]]</small>
 
<small>[[Guidelines for NETwiki Content Creation and Editing]]</small>
 
<small>Placeholder</small>
 
<small>[[Wiki Code Cookbook]]</small>
</div>
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| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| [[Portland Bureau of Emergency Management]]
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| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| General Volunteer Policies and Information
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| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Volunteer Candidacy
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| PBEM Community Resilience Team (CPT)
| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Volunteer Standing and Badging
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Community Resilience Flagship Programs
| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Volunteer Training Policies and Information
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| CPT Trainers
| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Volunteer Leadership
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| CPRT Funding
| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Volunteer Recognition Information
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| style="background:#ddd2cd; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Programming Governing Laws and Codes
| style="background:#f2e9fc; text-align:left; padding-left:20px; border:4px solid white;"| Supportive Information
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| style="background:#e9ae97; text-align: center; border:2px solid white;"|'''<big>[[Main_Page#SECTION 800: Basic Earthquake Emergency Communication_Nodes (BEECN)|Back to Main Guidelines ↱]]</big>'''
| style="background:gainsboro; text-align: center; border:2px solid white;"|'''<big>[[Main_Page|Back to Main Guidelines ↱]]</big>'''
|}
|}
The [https://www.portland.gov/pbem Portland Bureau of Emergency Management] (PBEM) is the City of Portland's enterprise emergency management agency. It was established as a City bureau in 2004, and the Portland NET program was included as part of PBEM's portfolio.
The [https://www.portland.gov/pbem Portland Bureau of Emergency Management] (PBEM) is the City of Portland's enterprise emergency management agency. It was [[Media:2004.07.21.78616 Establish Portland Office of Emergency Management.pdf|established as a City bureau in 2004]]<ref>However, in the FY 03-/04 adopted budget, City Council also transferred emergency management and Emergency Operations Center functions and funding from the Bureau of Fire & Rescue to the Portland Office of Emergency Management and approved the assignment of two positions from the Bureau of Fire & Rescue and two positions from the Police Bureau.</ref>, and the Portland NET program was included as part of PBEM's portfolio.  
:''See also: [https://www.portland.gov/pbem PBEM's official webpage]''


'''<big>Subpages</big>'''
'''<big>Subpages</big>'''


''[[Portland Bureau of Emergency Management/Historic Disasters in the Portland Metro Area|Historic Disasters in the Portland Metro Area]]''
:'''↳''' ''[[Portland Bureau of Emergency Management/Historic Disasters in the Portland Metro Area|Historic Disasters in the Portland Metro Area]]''


:''[[Portland Bureau of Emergency Management/History of the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management|History of the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management]]''
:'''↳''' ''[[Community Preparedness Library#Portland Emergency Management Archives - Products|Work Published by Portland Emergency Management]]''


:[[Portland Bureau of Emergency Management/Governing Laws and Codes for PBEM|''Governing Laws and Codes for PBEM''<br />]]
:'''↳''' ''[[Community Preparedness Library#Portland Emergency Management Archives - Administrative|Governing Laws and Codes for PBEM]]''
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== PBEM's Work and Organization ==
City Code 3.124.030 establishes that PBEM’s purpose is to “centralize leadership and coordination of emergency management.”<ref>Portland City Code Chapter 3.124: https://www.portland.gov/code/3/124</ref> Former Mayor Sam Adams stated that the intent of PBEM was “to support timely and effective decision-making on issues of critical importance to the life, health, and welfare of Portlanders.”<ref>May 17, 2010, Memo from Sam Adams, Mayor to LaVonne Griffin-Valade, City Auditor re: Response to Auditor’s Report #389: [https://efiles.portlandoregon.gov/record/16281704 “Emergency Management: Coordination limited and essential functions incomplete”]</ref>
 
Over the years, PBEM has invested time and resources in three primary mission areas:
Over the years, PBEM has invested time and resources in three primary mission areas:


Line 37: Line 55:
PBEM is led by a Director who reports to the [https://www.portland.gov/service-areas/public-safety Public Safety Service Area] (PSSA) Deputy City Administrator. PBEM's mission is supported by a small in-house administrative team and administrators in the PSSA.
PBEM is led by a Director who reports to the [https://www.portland.gov/service-areas/public-safety Public Safety Service Area] (PSSA) Deputy City Administrator. PBEM's mission is supported by a small in-house administrative team and administrators in the PSSA.


PBEM also shares office space with the [https://rdpo.net/ Regional Disaster Policy Organization] (RDPO). However, RDPO is considered a separate regional organization.
PBEM also shares office space with the [https://rdpo.net/ Regional Disaster Policy Organization] (RDPO). However, RDPO is a separate regional organization.
<br />
<br />
== History of the Portland Bureau of Emergency Management ==
 
=== Portland Civil Defense ===
[[File:Civil-Defense-Drill-1960-FSDM2.jpg|thumb|''Civil defense drill inside Kelly Butte in 1960. Photo courtesy of the [https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/civil-defense-underground-headquarters/?utm_source=chatgpt.com Oregon History Project].''|350x350px]]
{{#ev:youtube|ueEl7A7KaHA|430|right|'''''Video: The Day Called X'''''|frame}}


=== Governing Codes and Rules ===
In a sense, PBEM's history began in 1956 with Portland constructing the Civil Defense Emergency Operation Center. According to the [https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/civil-defense-underground-headquarters/?utm_source=chatgpt.com Oregon History Project]:
<blockquote>[[File:1957.12.31.Kelly Butte.jpg|alt=Photo from inside Kelly Butte, December 1957.|thumb|600x600px|''Photo from inside Kelly Butte, December 1957.'']]In 1956, Portland became the first city in the United States to build an underground city hall, the Civil Defense Emergency Operation Center, at [[wikipedia:Kelly_Butte_Natural_Area|Kelly Butte]], six and a half miles southeast of the city. It was intended to house 250 emergency coordinators for two weeks. From the underground, they could direct city and emergency services in the event of a nuclear war.  It was protected from nuclear fallout by twenty-six inch walls of reinforced concrete, buried ten to thirty feet below the hillside.


=== PBEM Community Preparedness Team ===
Technical operations equipment cached there included a huge map of Portland, telephones, and telegraph. There was also a special radio to broadcast warnings and establish contact with all government response agencies within a thirty-mile radius without disclosing the signal’s location of origin to enemy planes. In addition, microfilm files of 100 years worth of Portland deeds and other records were stored there.


X
Although the main focus of civil defense was preparation for the looming Cold War threat of nuclear weapons — a contingency which never materialized — '''trained civil defense teams sometimes responded to natural disasters and other emergencies.''' Civil defense drills, a regular occurrence throughout the 1950s and 1960s, ranged from elaborate, multi-agency mock air raids to elementary school “duck and cover” drills.


== Historic Disasters in the Portland Metro Area ==
Portland moved away from broad civil defense planning in the early 1960s after Senator Wayne Morse declared such efforts a hoax that lulled people into feeling falsely secure. In the early 1980s, during the Reagan years, civil defense re-emerged as an issue. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) coordinated a controversial Crisis Relocation Plan with state and local agencies. It involved evacuating metropolitan Portland to rural areas. In addition to being poorly organized, critics said the plan would increase the likelihood of a nuclear holocaust by making people believe that a nuclear war might be fought, won, and survived.<ref>''Civil Defense Underground Headquarters''. (n.d.). Oregon History Project. https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/civil-defense-underground-headquarters/?utm_source=chatgpt.com</ref>
[[File:1964 Storm.jpg|alt=News clipping following the 1964 Columbus Day Storm in the Portland area.|thumb|float|314x314px|News clipping following the 1964 Columbus Day Storm in the Portland area.]]
</blockquote>
[[File:2014.12.11.StandardInsurance.jpg|alt=View from Jeremy Van Keuren's office on December 11, 2014 during the windstorm. Metal sheeting broke off the PacWest building and struck the side of the Standard Insurance building.|thumb|''View from Jeremy Van Keuren's office on December 11, 2014 during the windstorm. Metal sheeting [https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/willamette-valley/thousands-lose-power-in-metro-area-after-storm/283-318089226 broke off the PacWest building] and struck the side of the Standard Insurance building.''|333x333px]]The following table lists historic disasters in Portland.
Portland's Civil Defense agency was featured in a mock nuclear attack response film called [[wikipedia:The_Day_Called_'X'|"The Day Called X"]] (sometimes titled "A Day Called X"). The City mothballed the Kelly Butte bunker in 1994, and permanently sealed it in 2006.<ref>Wikipedia contributors. (2024, November 22). ''Kelly Butte natural area''. Wikipedia. <nowiki>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Butte_Natural_Area</nowiki></ref> Interested armchair historians can go deep into the weeds to learn more about the bunker (which included a mural painted by [https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/pander_henk_1937_/ Henk Pander] and is ''still there'' although buried); PBEM recommends these blog entries:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
!Day 1 Date
!Event
!Notes
|-
|1700.01.26
|[[wikipedia:1700_Cascadia_earthquake|1700 Cascadia Earthquake]]
|
|-
|1861.12.05
|[[wikipedia:Great_Flood_of_1862#Oregon|Great Flood of 1861-1862]]
|
|-
|1873.08.02
|[[wikipedia:Great_Fire_of_1873|Great Fire of 1873]]
|
|-
|1874.06.24
|[https://portland.daveknows.org/2011/06/24/june-24-1876-flood-waters-reach-second-street-in-portland/ Portland Flood of 1876]
|
|-
|1880.01.09
|[[wikipedia:Great_Gale_of_1880|Great Gale of 1880]]
|
|-
|1894.06.05
|[https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/willamette_flood_1894_/ Willamette River Flood of 1894] <ref>'''See also''' from OPB: ''[https://www.opb.org/article/2024/05/30/oregon-experience-130-years-ago-great-flood-1894-portland/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery 130 years ago, the Great Flood of 1894 left Portland waterlogged for weeks]''</ref>
|
|-
|1931.04.21
|[https://www.jstor.org/stable/40490945 1931 Dust Storm]
|
|-
|1948.05.30
|[[wikipedia:Vanport,_Oregon#Flood|1948 Columbia River flood (Vanport)]]
|
|-
|1950.01.09
|[https://portland.daveknows.org/2011/01/09/january-9-1950-three-snow-storms/ 1950 Winter Storm]
|Snow began falling around January 9. Snow and wind closed all the highways west of the Cascades and in the Gorge. An ice storm followed on the 18th, downing trees and power lines and covering roads. 15.5 inches of snow fell on January 21. Portland saw 32.9 inches of snow fall that month total. The storm also led to a state of emergency being declared by the governor and mayor. This storm holds the record for highest snowfall in Portland in a month.
|-
|1962.10.12
|[[wikipedia:Columbus_Day_Storm_of_1962|Columbus Day Storm of 1962]]
|
|-
|1964.03.27
|[[wikipedia:1964_Alaska_earthquake|Tsunami from Alaska Quake]]
|Five Oregonians were killed from the tsunami that followed Alaska's 9.4 Good Friday earthquake.
|-
|1964.12.18
|[[wikipedia:Christmas_flood_of_1964|Christmas Flood of 1964]]
|
|-
|1972.04.05
|[[wikipedia:1972_Portland–Vancouver_tornadoes|1972 Vancouver Tornado]]
|
|-
|1978.12.28
|[[wikipedia:United_Airlines_Flight_173|United Airlines Flight 173]]
|
|-
|1980.03.27
|[[wikipedia:1980_eruption_of_Mount_St._Helens|Eruption of Mount St. Helens]]
|
|-
|1981.11.13
|[https://kcby.com/news/local/deadly-storm-hit-oregon-on-friday-the-13th-in-november-1981 Friday the 13<sup>th</sup> Windstorm]
|
|-
|1993.03.25
|[[wikipedia:1993_Scotts_Mills_earthquake|1993 Scotts Mills earthquake]]
|
|-
|1995.12.12
|[https://portlandweather.com/weather-headlines/130 1995 Windstorm]<ref>'''See also:''' Oregonian/OregonLive, S. T. |. (2015, December 12). 20 years later: Dec. 12, 1995, windstorm ranks second only to Columbus Day Storm of 1962. ''Oregonlive''. https://www.oregonlive.com/weather/2015/12/20_years_later_december_12_199.html</ref><ref>'''See also:''' ''Classic windstorm of December 11, 2014''. (n.d.). https://climate.washington.edu/stormking/December2014.html</ref>
|
|-
|1996.02.05
|[[wikipedia:Willamette_Valley_flood_of_1996|Willamette Valley Flood of 1996]]
|
|-
|2008.12.14
|[https://www.oregonlive.com/news/erry-2018/12/0e131ca88d8678/10-years-later-the-2008-blizza.html 2008 Major Snowstorm]
|14.9 inches of snow.
|-
|2009.06.06
|[[wikipedia:2009_swine_flu_pandemic_in_the_United_States_by_state#Oregon|Influenza A-H1N1 Pandemic in Portland]]
|1,833 confirmed cases; 1,419 hospitalizations; 79 deaths.
|-
|2014.12.11
|[[Media:2014.12.11.Portland Windstorm Analysis.pdf|December 2014 Windstorm]]
|
|-
|2020.02.28
|[[wikipedia:COVID-19_pandemic_in_Portland,_Oregon|COVID-19 Pandemic in Portland]]
|967,156 confirmed cases; 35,030 hospitalizations; 8,415 deaths.
|-
|2020.05.28
|[[wikipedia:George_Floyd_protests_in_Portland,_Oregon|George Floyd Demonstrations]]
|
|-
|2021.06.26
|[https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/heat-dome-2021/#:~:text=During%20the%202021%20event%2C%20Portland,%C2%B0F%20on%20June%2028. 2021 Heat Dome]
|Extreme heat with high temperatures reaching 108°, 112°, and 116° on three consecutive days. 72 deaths attributable to the heat in Portland, and 257 ER or urgent care visits.
|}


=== Major emergency events in Portland ===
* Atlas Obscura, [https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kelly-butte-civil-defense-center Kelly Butte Civil Defense Center];
The table below lists major emergency incidents in Portland's history that are notable but do not rise to the designation of "disaster".
* Fat Pencil Studio, [https://fatpencilstudio.com/blog/reconstructing-the-kelly-butte-bunker/ Reconstructing the Kelly Butte Bunker];
{| class="wikitable"
*Portland historian Jeff Felker's blog, [https://kellybuttebunker.blogspot.com/ The Kelly Butte 911 Call Center].
|+
!Day 1
Date
!Event
!Notes
|-
|1892.12.22
|1892 Portland Snowstorm
|14 inches of snow in 24 hours.
|-
|1902.01.02
|1902 Portland Snowstorm
|15 inches of snow in 24 hours.
|-
|1905.06.01
|[https://www.opb.org/article/2025/06/01/oregon-experience-120th-anniversary-lewis-and-clark-exposition-portland-fair/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery Lewis and Clark Exposition]
|Sometimes called the Portland "World's Fair". 1.8 million visitors arrived in Portland over four months. The emergency management nexus here is not just the crowd, but that the City filled [[wikipedia:Guild's_Lake|Guild's Lake]] in NW Portland shortly after the Expo (the Expo took place on an island in Guild's Lake). As a result, Portland's largest industrial neighborhood is built on fill.
|-
|1919.12.10
|1919 Portland Snowstorm
|13.5 inches of snow in 24 hours.
|-
|1937.02.01
|1937 Portland Snowstorm
|12.8 inches of snow in 24 hours.
|-
|1943.01.21
|1943 Portland Snowstorm
|15.5 inches of snow in 24 hours.
|-
|1970.08.28
|[[wikipedia:Vortex_I|Vortex I]]
|A rock music festival held by Gov. Tom McCall to attract counterculture protesters away from downtown Portland, coinciding with a visit from President Richard Nixon. The gambit is credited with ensuring that Portland did not suffer demonstrations as experienced in Chicago, in 1968, during the Democratic National Convention.
|-
|2008.05.19
|[https://www.theguardian.com/world/deadlineusa/2008/may/19/72000rallyforobamainportl Barack Obama visit]
|Estimated 72,000 event attendees.
|-
|2008.10.09
|[https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2008/10/southwest_portland_home_swept.html Terwilliger Landslide]
|Six homes destroyed in major SW Portland landslide.
|-
|2009.11.11
|[https://katu.com/archive/one-year-later-a-look-back-at-the-marysville-school-fire Marysville Elementary School fire]
|3-alarm fire, two injuries, no deaths.
|-
|2010.10.20
|[https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2010/10/obamas_portland_rally_for_kitz.html President Barack Obama visits Portland]
|Oregon Convention Center.
|-
|2010.12.12
|[https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna40630310 Johnson Creek flooding]
|
|-
|2011.06.06
|[https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2011/06/ammonia_leak_at_alpenrose_dair.html Alpenrose HAZMAT incident]
|Ammonia leak in SW Portland, nearby residents advised to shelter in place.
|-
|2011.10.06
|[[wikipedia:Occupy_Portland|Occupy Portland]]
|
|-
|2012.12.11
|[[wikipedia:Clackamas_Town_Center_shooting|Clackamas Town Center shooting]]
|Three people killed (including perpetrator) and one injured in mass shooting.
|-
|2017.05.14
|[https://response.epa.gov/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=12205 River Street Warehouse Fire]
|Derelict warehouse with asbestos caught fire and spread pollutants.
|-
|2017.08.21
|[[wikipedia:Solar_eclipse_of_August_21,_2017|"Great American Eclipse"]]
|Total solar eclipse that was viewable in many Oregon municipalities, resulting in lots of viewing events and choked up travel routes.
|-
|2017.01.10
|2017 Portland Snowstorm
|11.8 inches of snow in 24 hours.
|}
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== History of Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) ==
=== Portland Office of Emergency Management ===
{{#ev:vimeo|898835194|430|right|'''''Video: The History of CERT'''''|frame}}
The Portland Office of Emergency Management was a special unit in Portland Fire & Rescue until Portland City Council made it a stand-alone office in July of 2003. Funds from the Department of Homeland Security helped establish local emergency management offices, nationwide. Portland City Council consolidated all emergency management functions into the Portland Office of Emergency Management by ordinance on July 21, 2004. The first Director was Miguel Ascarrunz, appointed in November 2003.<ref>You can view a C-Span video where Director Ascarrunz appears at about the 2:55:25 mark here: https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/democratic-national-committee-platform-hearing/128854</ref>
Portland Fire & Rescue staff contributed to the development of a national Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program. The Portland version, Neighborhood Emergency Teams (NET), was the third CERT program in the country.


== Notes and References ==
== Notes and References ==
<references />
<references />
Retrieved from "https://volunteerpdx.net/index.php/Portland_Bureau_of_Emergency_Management"