Monday, January 11, 2010

More Storms to Track this Week

A series of Pacific storms that are loaded with moisture will continue to bring additional heavy rainfall to the Pacific Northwest coast and up into western BC through Wednesday. Snow levels in the Coastal Range will continue to be fairly high through Tuesday as they fall to about 4,000-4,500 feet during the day then to 3,500 feet by Wednesday.

Due to the prolonged period of rainfall, river flooding is a concern.

http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blogs.asp?partner=accuweather&blog=Anderson&pgurl=/mtweb/content/Anderson/archives/2010/01/st.asp

Amber Alert Awareness Day - January 13, 2010

News Release from: Oregon State Police
AMBER ALERT AWARENESS DAY - JANUARY 13, 2010
Posted: January 11th, 2010 12:46 PM
Photo/sound file: http://www.flashalertnewswire.net/images/news/2010-01/1002/amber_alert.jpg
Thirteen years since the abduction and murder of Amber Hagerman in Arlington, Texas, January 13, 2010, commemorates the nation's fourth AMBER Alert Awareness Day. Since that tragic day in 1997, AMBER Alert programs have played a role in the recovery of nearly 500 children. Last year there were 3 AMBER Alert activations in Oregon, all of which ended in the safe recovery of a child.
Nationwide, there are 29 regional, 38 local, and statewide plans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In November 2002, the State of Oregon announced its implementation of a statewide AMBER Alert Plan. Oregon's AMBER Alert Plan - America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response - is a voluntary partnership between law enforcement agencies and local broadcasters to send an emergency alert to the public when a child has been abducted and it is believed the child's life is in danger.
Oregon's AMBER Plan Criteria are:
1. Law enforcement confirms a child has been abducted (*) 2. The child is 17 years or younger 3. The child may be in danger of serious bodily harm or death 4. There is enough descriptive information about the child, abductor, and/or suspect's vehicle to believe an immediate broadcast alert will help.
5. The child's name and other critical data elements - including the child abduction (CA) and AMBER Alert (AA) flags will/have been entered into the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system.
(* This alert system is not to be used when a child runs away or involves a custodial situation.)
Oregon State Police is the designated law enforcement agency which local law enforcement agencies contact to initiate an AMBER Alert. When all the AMBER guidelines and criteria have been met, the AMBER Alert Plan is activated using the AMBER Web Portal. Since Oregon's AMBER Alert plan implementation, there have been 15 activations and the successful recovery of 17 children.
The following is a brief review of Oregon's 2009 AMBER Alert activations:
* On March 2nd Oregon launched an AMBER Alert related to a reported abduction of a 3-year-old girl in Yreka, California. The child was found safe by California Highway Patrol in northern California and her alleged abductor arrested.
* On April 22nd an AMBER Alert was activated in Oregon related to the reported abduction of a 5-year-old boy in Hines. The child was found safe by Humboldt County Sheriff's Office and Nevada Highway Patrol after being sighted near Denio, Nevada just across the border. Both suspects were detained.
* On July 22nd an AMBER Alert was activated in Oregon related to a reported missing 12-year-old girl believed to be in danger. The girl was found safe in Myrtle Creek and her 40-year old father was arrested on a felony child abuse charge.
Oregon's AMBER Alert plan sends out alerts through radio and television, highway advisory signs, email and to wireless subscribers who opt to receive the text messages on their wireless devices. Anyone may sign-up at no cost to be notified of Oregon's AMBER Alerts through the AMBER Alert Web Portal.
Unfortunately, Oregon and many states around the country noted several incidents of false text message alerts during the last couple years. Many of these so-called AMBER Alerts that circulate by text message and e-mail involve cases that had already been resolved or were outright hoaxes.
Oregon's co-AMBER Alert Review Committee chairs, Klamath County Sheriff Tim Evinger and OSP Lieutenant Molly Cotter, reminds everyone that AMBER Alerts coming from an official source provides initial notification, updates, and a cancellation.
"AMBER Alerts from unknown sources could lead to a delayed response from the public and jeopardizes the integrity of the entire AMBER Alert plan. Forwarding text messages can circulate indefinitely without a cancellation, so don't forward this message if you receive something similar without knowing it is a confirmed AMBER Alert" said Evinger and Cotter.
Oregon joins the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children encouraging all wireless subscribers to sign up for Wireless AMBER Alerts. More information about Wireless AMBER Alerts and national AMBER Alert Awareness Day is available at:
http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&Pageld=3902
Information about the AMBER Alert Plan in Oregon is available at the Oregon State Police web site at: http://www.oregon.gov/OSP/AMBERLERT/index.shtml
More information about Amber Alert's is available at www.amberalert.gov
### www.oregon.gov/OSP ###
 
Contact Info: Lieutenant Molly Cotter
Oregon State Police
Office: (503) 378-8754
Sheriff Tim Evinger
Klamath County Sheriff's Office
Office: (541) 883-5130
 

Resolve to be Ready

With the New Year approaching, the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Ready Campaign is reminding Americans to Resolve to be Ready in 2010. Resolve to be Ready is an annual initiative encouraging individuals, families, businesses and communities to make preparedness a part of their New Year resolutions.

“This holiday season, as family and friends come together to celebrate, it is also a great time to talk about the importance of being prepared,” said Administrator Fugate. “Families can start small, by ensuring they have a communications plan in place before an emergency happens, a little bit of planning can make all the difference in an emergency. The public is the most critical member of our national emergency response team, and the more they do now to be prepared, the better our response.”

Being Ready for emergencies can be an easy New Year's resolution to keep by following the Ready Campaign's three simple steps: 1) Get an emergency supply kit; 2) Make a family emergency plan; and 3) Be informed about the types of emergencies and appropriate responses.
Taking these steps and having an emergency supply kit both at home and in the car, will help prepare people for winter power outages and icy roads. Each of these kits should include basic necessities such as water, food and first aid supplies to help you survive if you are without power or become stranded in your vehicle. Complete checklists for each kit are available at www.ready.gov.

In addition, by visiting www.ready.gov or the Spanish-language Web site www.listo.gov, or calling 1-800-BE-READY or 1-888-SE-LISTO, individuals can access free materials that will help them make and keep a New Year's resolution that will bring their families peace of mind. The Ready campaign has been produced in partnership with the Ad Council.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Stay informed of FEMA’s activities online: videos and podcasts available at www.fema.gov/medialibrary and www.youtube.com/fema; follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/femainfocus and on FaceBook at www.facebook.com/fema .