This project will offer the community information about these topics, create places to discuss issues and concerns and consider what kinds of things we can do to support each other as we age. This a very relevant topic for our community as the median age is 75.
Please join your neighbors on October 26, 10 – noon for a Community Meeting and a community conversation led by Margo Lalich, founder of the North Coast End of Life Collective. We will update you on the work of the CMCA Board. Then Margo will facilitate a discussion about aging and end of life issues. At the end of the session participants will be able to indicate which issues they would like to learn more about in the future. This is the first in a series of presentations for our recently adopted Aging in Place and Preparing for End of Life project.
We received two important documents from the Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge that constitute important steps for Cape Meares Forest protection. Read more on the Watershed Conservancy page
Wilderness First Aid classes are funded locally by Tillamook Coast Visitors Association and taught by instructors from NOLS (National Outdoor Leadership School). The two-day class teaches the Patient Assessment System, how to provide effective first
Cape Meares will participate in the Great Oregon Shake Out again this year. Get ready to practice your emergency skills with your family and neighbors. First, at 10:17 am on October 17th, you will practice the mantra of “drop, cover, and hold”. Then, grab your go bag and walk to your assembly site. The sites are located on 9th, 3rd,7th, and 5th streets and at the water tower. There will be someone there to collect participation data and communicate site participation using GMRS radios. It is important to practice community emergency plans so that all participants can direct their energy toward survival rather than panic. Don’t be scared. Be prepared.
Short Term Rental & FEMA Biological Opinion * Discussion with Sarah Absher, Director of Tillamook County Community Development
Tillamook County and many other counties/cities across the state are now being required to update local floodplain development regulations resulting from a lawsuit filed in Oregon against FEMA for violation of the Endangered Species Act. Development code changes for development within FEMA mapped Areas of Special Flood Hazard will impact areas of Cape Meares located within these special flood hazard zones.
On September 14, 10 – noon there will be two educational presentations. Please come!
The first will be about protection from wildfires including representatives of Tillamook Fire and the State Fire Marshall’s Office. Thanks to Dave Audet for organizing.
The second will be about Septic Systems and Our Watershed by Simone Goldfeder.
On September 13, 2024 Miriam Fultz and Charles Ansorge attended the Tillamook County Emergency Preparedness Summit held at Tillamook Bay Community College at which time the new name and logo for our group that focuses on emergency preparedness was unveiled. Our group of “preppers” is now known as Cape Meares Emergency Volunteer Corps (CMEVC). Miriam shared information regarding a history of the work that our group has completed since 2010.
On August 12 the Cape Meares Emergency Prep group hosted a Mass Casualty Shelter Drill for the community. Residents were asked to actively engage in the drill in order to gain experience on what might be expected following an earthquake and tsunami that forced them to flee to a safe assembly area above the inundation zone. More than 30 residents participated and self-selected to be a member of a task group that then tested a series of instructions created by the Emergency Prep group.
Following a significant earthquake and tsunami it is unlikely that those who are able to reach safety will be clear-minded regarding what they should do next. We do the planning now for various scenarios without having to deal with the serious stress associated with being a survivor. A major earthquake will not be just one event. During the first 24-48-72 hours post event there might be hundreds of aftershocks with some of them approaching or even exceeding the initial quake. There won’t be just one tsunami. Instead there will be multiple waves that come ashore and continue to inflict serious damage to property in the inundation zone area.
The severity of any event will determine how quickly it might be possible for the ground to stop shaking and the waves to cease coming ashore and for residents to start returning to their properties to assess damage. It is unlikely everyone who reached safety at an assembly area will quickly return to their homes. Tasks for the survivors will be required. Food needs to be prepared; there’s a shelter to erect; sanitation preparation needs attention; a plan for water procurement must be put in motion; and medical attention may be required for some survivors. The shelter drill was very successful. Much was learned from the drill. Many of those residents who participated urged the scheduling of future drills in order for our community to build resilience so the day when the “Big One” arrives we will be prepared, survive, and live to see another day.
News about Cape Meares, Oregon and the CMCA community association.
