2021 Summer Heatwaves: Difference between revisions

* '''A community safety net already stretched and frayed by COVID-19.''' The pandemic has led to increased social isolation (a factor in heat illness deaths) and houselessness.

* '''A possible boil water notice looming over much of the west coast.''' Regional emergency managers were planning for a prospective interruption of the supply of sodium hypochlorite.<ref>Hasenstab, A. (2021, July 6). Chlorine shortage comes to an end in Portland as production ramps up. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved January 8, 2022, from https://www.opb.org/article/2021/07/06/oregon-chlorine-shortage-portland-water-bureau-washington-chemical-facility/</ref> Utilities use sodium hypochlorite to disinfect drinking water and wastewater. An equipment failure at a chlorine manufacturer in Longview resulted in a shortage of the disinfectant impacting the entire west coast. From June 14 to 28, utilities and emergency managers braced for the possibility of running out.  That did not happen. But the implications of a short chlorine supply were serious: it could mean asking Portlanders to curtail water use and possibly a regional boil water notice. This incident held the attention and resources of emergency managers right up to the June heatwave.

PBEM moved the ECC into partial activation on June 23. That day, the COAD Coordinator began mobilizing community outreach efforts via PDX COAD on June 23, sending warnings and instructions to partner CBOs and calling some of them individually to check in. In a meeting the next day, Multnomah County decided to open two cooling centers beginning on Friday, June 25: the Oregon Convention Center and Sunrise Center (and later added the Arbor Lodge Shelter). A bulletin to NETs that day put them on standby for volunteering, but online shift signups were not available for sending to NETs until 11:00 the next day (June 24). Multnomah County Emergency Management took responsibility for the online signups, but posted eight hour shifts instead of the four hour shifts customarily offered to volunteers. The short notice combined with the long shifts later factored into low volunteer availability. On June 25, Portland’s Chief Administrator’s Office requested help from City employees to fill shift gaps.