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Oregon Updates Its Post-Disaster Playbook

A page from the Oregon "Disaster Playbook."
Oregon Office of Emergency Management
A page from the Oregon "Disaster Playbook."

The state of Oregon has updated its master plan for what to do in case of a major earthquake and tsunami.

The plan, dubbed the "Cascadia Playbook,” is a checklist of what needs to happen during the first 14 days after a major natural disaster.

Governor Kate Brown and emergency managers met Tuesday to discuss the changes.

"We know we have to save lives and protect property,” Oregon Office of Emergency Management director Andrew Phelps said. “But what are some of the steps that we can take in the first 24 hours, first 48 hours, the first two weeks following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami?"

So what’s on the to-do list following the Big One? Everything from finding shelter for those who survive to finding a place to store the bodies of those who don’t. Oregon estimates up to 25,000 people could die in the wake of a major seismic event.

Copyright 2015 Northwest News Network

Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.
Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.