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Hazards
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Identify Your Hazards
Emergencies and disasters can strike at any time, anywhere. Getting prepared can sometimes feel overwhelming. Where do you start? To help focus your efforts on the highest impact preparedness activities, a good first step is to become aware of the most likely hazards you may face.
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Many actions you take to get prepared, such as organizing a go bag, will help across a variety disaster and emergency scenarios, but learning about your most probable hazards can give you knowledge, skills, and tools to more effectively mitigate your risks.
Being prepared starts with situational awareness: learning about the potential hazards and risks where you live, work, and play. This awareness will help you better prepare for the most likely hazards in your neighborhood and region, such as extreme weather, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, tornados, as well as other hazards. Situational awareness is a skill that is critical for hazard identification, effective decision making, and accident prevention. It means paying attention and being aware of what’s going on around you, looking for potential hazards, and knowing what to do in case something goes wrong. It’s natural to panic in a crisis. Situational awareness increases survival by helping you predict how dangerous a situation may be, and it gives you a framework for managing a crisis without panicking. |
Situational awareness includes these steps:
OODA loop developed by John Boyd breaks down steps to improve situational awareness.
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Several online resources can help you assess the disaster risks in your area, including interactive maps based on data collected by scientists.
FEMA National Risk Index Disasters have been increasing in frequency over the last 20 years, according to FEMA's national risk index for natural disasters. In Oregon, 141 disasters have been declared since 1953. The most frequent risks in Oregon include fires, severe storms, floods, and other hazards. Earthquakes are another significant risk that may not happen as frequently, but can be non-the-less extremely dangerous and destructive when they happen. Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes have the potential to occur every 190 to 1,200 years. Scientists predict that there is a 37% chance that a megathrust earthquake of 7.1 magnitude or greater will occur along the Cascadia Subduction fault zone within the next 50 years, and a 10% chance that an event could occur within the next 30 years. To find out specific risks in your area, check out FEMA's national risk index. Oregon Hazard Mapping Tool Another tool available for learning about your specific hazards in Oregon is the HazVu Statewide Geohazards Viewer, developed by the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI). You enter your address, and check the types of natural hazards you want to see for that address. Check out the 10-minute video or the blog on the Earthquake Regional Impact Analysis. |
FEMA's data shows disasters increasing in frequency in Oregon
Types of disasters in Oregon since 1953 from FEMA risk index
Click the image to open the interactive hazard map
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Be 2-Weeks Ready is a program developed by Oregon Emergency Management (OEM) to help families, neighborhoods and communities strive to be self-sufficient for two weeks in the event of a disaster.
The toolkit is available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese and Russian. Check out OEM's Be 2 Weeks Ready webpage for downloads. |
Click to download the toolkit
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Prepare! A Resource Guide by the American Red Cross Cascades Region. Emergency management agencies and the Red Cross encourage people to be prepared to be on their own for a minimum of two weeks. Prepare! A Resource Guide provides actions that individuals and households can take to increase their readiness to be two weeks ready.
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Check out this Infographic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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