Resources

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Washington State 2022
Cascadia Rising Exercise Series

Summary of Conclusions, Critical Transportation and Mass Care Services Tabletop Exercises, June, 2022

“A CSZ earthquake is anticipated to be potentially the largest natural disaster the United States could face and be one of the most complex disaster scenarios for emergency managers, public safety officials, government agencies, and policymakers.”


Get #2WeeksReady
City of Salem Challenge

Being 2-weeks-ready isn’t for Extreme Preppers. It’s for the rest of us.


Geology 101 College Term

Totally FREE class taught by UW Professor Nick Zentner. No, this free version does not get you actual college credits. However, it is an excellent learning opportunity. His website has several other amazing resources.


FEMA’s Protective Actions Research

Information on over 380 protective actions you can take to prepare for disasters. For information on earthquakes, scroll down on this linked page to the “Research” section. Click “View Research Summary”. Scroll down to “Messaging Focus” for a discussion on Drop, Cover, Hold On vs Stay or Go.

Edit: as of July 21, 2025, FEMA has removed all links to the protective actions (as far as I can find). This page at least mentions them. Preparedness Research | FEMA.gov


Preparing Oregon’s Communities of Color for Disasters

“Every person should have an equal opportunity to survive a disaster. As we prepare Oregon’s communities to respond to increasingly frequent and severe climate disasters, communities of color deserve equitable access to linguistically and culturally relevant, lifesaving disaster preparedness resources.”




U.S. Resiliency Council
This page is filled with videos and webinars. Check out the May Episode – The Science and Innovation of Resilience to see information about the State Treasury building in Salem, Oregon. Project details are available on their Oregon Treasury Resiliency Building page. Thank you to Byron Williams for sharing the project information!


FEMA Preparedness Webinars
“Watch previously recorded webinars that focus on topics impacting individual and community preparedness. These sessions are a collaborative effort between FEMA Region 2 and FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division.”


FEMA PrepTalks

Like TED Talks… specifically for the field of emergency management.

“To assist emergency managers with implementing insights from the PrepTalks, each PrepTalk page includes the video, facilitator slides and a discussion guide to assist with whole community planning.”


Slipping and Locking in Earth’s Earthquake Factories

“What do 1952, 1960, 1964, 2004, and 2011 have in common? In each of those years, a catastrophic subduction zone earthquake and tsunami—collectively the five largest earthquakes ever recorded—occurred somewhere around the world.” This article discusses subduction zone characteristics of the Cascadia Subduction Zone, the Nankai Trough, the Middle America trench, the Alaska–Aleutian Subduction Zone, and the Hikurangi Subduction Zone. It’s worth a read!


Earthquake and Tsunami
Community Disaster Cache Planning Guide

Released in May of 2021 by DOGAMI & OEM, this guide covers design, implementation, maintenance, and deployment considerations, covering everything from budgets to morgue examples.


ClimRR: Climate Risk and Resilience Portal: Center for Climate Resilience and Decision Science at the Argonne National Library

The National Risk Index (NRI) Map: FEMA

HazVu: Statewide Geohazards Viewer, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI)

Resilience Analysis and Planning Tool (RAPT): FEMA GIS Database and Map

Community Disaster Resilience Zones (CDRZ): FEMA

Climate and Economic Justice Screening (CEJS) Tool: US Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)

National Inventory of Dams: USACE.

Oregon Dam Inventory: For this and the National Inventory of Dams above, Populations at Risk (PAR) is evaluated. You can filter by High, Significant, or Low hazard posed by a dam failure. Within the details of a dam, some will show the condition rating of either Unsatisfactory, Poor, Fair, or Satisfactory. Of the 76 High hazard dams in Oregon, 6 are rated as Unsatisfactory and 15 are Poor. Reminder that earthquake shaking can cause dam failure.

National Dam Safety Program Strategic Plan 2024-2029: FEMA

Publication: 2021 Oregon Seismic Hazard Database: Purpose and Methods & Database: Oregon Seismic Hazard Database (OSHD): DOGAMI, shows three Perceived Shaking and Damage Potential, Probabilistic Earthquake Model scenarios.

NOAA Tsunami Program: NOAA / National Weather Service U.S. Tsunami Warning System

NWS TsunamiReady® Communities: Guidelines

Copernicus Interactive Climate Atlas: Copernicus is the European Union’s Earth Observation Programme

Community Fault Model (CFM): Cascadia Region Earthquake Science Center (CRESCENT)

Dynamic Rupture, Earthquake Cycle, and Tsunamis (DET): CRESCENT

Subduction Zones in four Dimensions SZ4D: funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF)

Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW) URM Building Survey Workflow Guidebook

Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup (CREW) Safer Buildings, Stronger Communities: A Road Map to Action for Earthquake Country

Risk HAZUS FEMA’s Methodology for Estimating Potential Losses  https://msc.fema.gov/portal/resources/hazus

Homeowner flood risks https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2020/06/29/flood-risk-climate-change/

Hurricane Harvey Caused 500,000-Year Floods in Some Areas https://www.livescience.com/60378-hurricane-harvey-once-in-500000-year-flood.html

What does “500-year flood” mean? https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/8/28/16211392/100-500-year-flood-meaning

FEMA Flood Map Service Center: Welcome! https://msc.fema.gov/portal/home

FEMA Flood Plane Definitions https://www.fema.gov/glossary/flood-zones

100-Year Flood defined https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/100-year-flood?qtscience_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects U.S. Climate Extremes Index (CEI) https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/extremes/cei/

Global Climate Change Indicators https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/monitoring-references/faq/indicators.php#warming-climate

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/international

4 FEMA Flood Zone Designations https://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/references/public/NM/FEMA_FLD_HAZ_guide.pdf

Floodsmart https://www.floodsmart.gov/

Flood Warning VS. Watch https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-watch-warning

Situational Awareness Wind and Weather Tool https://www.ventusky.com/?p=40.8;-100.2;4&l=temperature-2m

National Water Information System: Web Interface https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt

Weather-Ready Nation- U.S. National Program – Weather Warnings https://www.weather.gov/wrn/wea

NOAA Weather Radio https://www.weather.gov/nwr/

Welcome to the Office of Water Prediction https://water.noaa.gov/

Map https://water.noaa.gov/map

Hydrometeorological Design Studies Center https://www.weather.gov/owp/hdsc

National Temperature and Precipitation Maps https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/temp-and-precip/us-maps/

FEMA Flood Map Service Center: HAZUS https://msc.fema.gov/portal/resources/hazus

5 National Program- Flood Related Hazards https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-hazards

Before a Flood  https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-before

Turn Around Don’t Drown® https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-turn-around-dont-drown

Flood safety tips: what to do before, during and after a flood https://www.nationwide.com/lc/resources/emergency-preparedness/articles/floods

Hospital Natural Disasters  https://www.calhospitalprepare.org/natural-disasters

Verisk- Informed risk and investment decisions with innovative data analytic insights https://www.verisk.com/

Association of State Floodplain Managers https://www.floods.org/

Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety https://ibhs.org/

Flood Safety Tips and Resources https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

During a Flood https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-during

Red Cross Flood Safety https://www.redcross.org/get-help/how-to-prepare-for-emergencies/types-ofemergencies/flood.html

Flood Preparedness and Response  https://www.osha.gov/flood

Ready.gov – Floods https://www.ready.gov/floods

6 BE PREPARED FOR A FLOOD https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/flood_information-sheet.pdf

Ready Business INLAND FLOODING Toolkit https://www.ready.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/ready_business_inland-flooding-toolkit.pdf

Build A Kit https://www.ready.gov/kit Hospital Loss of Utilities/Services https://www.calhospitalprepare.org/loss-utilities-services 

Hospital Evacuation Checklist https://www.calhospitalprepare.org/evacuation https://www.calhospitalprepare.org/post/hospital-evacuation-checklist

Recovery After a Flood https://www.weather.gov/safety/flood-after Hospital Recovery  https://www.calhospitalprepare.org/recovery

The 9 Steps of Flood Recovery https://www.lafd.org/news/nine-steps-flood-recovery

After a Flood https://heartlandfloodhelp.org/after-a-flood/

Flood watches and warnings

What to do before, during and after a flood

Prepare for floods

Prepare for landslides & debris flow​
Landslide Information Database for Oregon​

Post-fire debris flow hazards
National flood insurance program

Turn Around Don’t Drown PSA

Flood Safety: Wireless Emergency Alerts

Stay Afloat in Flooding