Over the past two years I have contacted SMILE board members asking if we had an emergency disaster plan for the neighborhood and letting them know I believe we should have one. To date, I have been told that there have been discussions, but as a long-time Sellwoood resident, who shoud be in the know, I am not. My guess is you aren't either. Certainly disaster readiness is an easy issue to table, but when the disaster strikes, there is not time to schedule a meeting. We all saw clear evidence of this during Katrina. Here are some thoughts I have had, you might want to add more.
--Is there a building or buildings designated as neighborhood gathering centers.
--How many residents are trained Neighborhood Emergency Team responders. How many of them are in the neighborhood at any given time.
--For residents with special needs, what is the plan for making contact with them.
--Sellwood Moreland is a retail shopping destination and transient traffic pass-through area. How we will provide for the non-SMILE residents who will be in the area during a disaster.
--When we have a plan, how will it be communicated to residents and non-residents.
I had the opportunity to observe some of our inter-governmental emergency response scenarios from an insider postion. I don't have a high-level of faith in their ability to provide meaningful and timely disaster response in specific neighborhoods. That is why I would hope Sellwood-Moreland residents could work together to develop a plan and communicate the plan in a manner that would insure that everyone within our geographical boundaries during a disaster would have a fair or better chance of answering the question, "What do we do now?" Please share your thoughts with us.
