New “Wilsonville Ready” Campaign Supports Community Emergency Preparedness

March 21, 2022 — The City of Wilsonville has launched “Wilsonville Ready,” a new public awareness campaign that is providing tips, information, checklists and other resources to aid individuals, families and businesses in becoming better prepared for emergencies.

In recent years, a generational ice storm, massive wildfires, and a global pandemic have underscored the importance of expecting the unexpected. Motivated by these recent events and the ever-present threat of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, the Wilsonville City Council established “Engaging the Community to Support Emergency Preparedness and Resiliency” last year as one of seven broad 2021-2023 Council Goals.

“History has shown that preparation makes communities more resilient in the wake of an emergency,” Mayor Julie Fitzgerald said. “After a disaster, first responders and other municipal resources are typically occupied assisting those in critical need for several days. We want households prepared in the event they have to endure time without access to power, drinking water, groceries, prescription medicines or other resources we all take for granted.”

The City is undertaking the Wilsonville Ready campaign in partnership with local, regional and  state agencies prepared to handle emergency response. These include the Wilsonville Police Department, Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, Clackamas and Washington County Emergency Management Offices, and the Regional Water Providers Consortium.

For years, the City has successfully worked in partnership with these and other regional, state and federal partners to develop coordinated emergency management preparation and response.

The “Wilsonville Ready” campaign is designed to disseminate information in small, digestible chunks that allow people to take incremental steps to become better prepared. Each month, the campaign focuses on a specific element of preparedness.

“Preparation can and should be incremental,” said Delora Kerber, Public Works Director. “Time, budgets and other barriers prevent everyone from doing everything at once, but each little step taken by individuals to become more prepared improves our community’s ability to respond to an emergency.”

The Wilsonville Ready campaign will be present throughout the year on social media, in the Boones Ferry Messenger, and at WilsonvilleReady.com, an online resource hub.  Additional elements may include community presentations, preparedness activities and exercises with prize incentives and a resource fair.

Wilsonville Ready is informed by input gathered from a short community survey in which 92 percent of participants indicated they want to be more prepared. Valuable community feedback ensures the campaign is informed by the needs of the people it serves. Additional surveys during the course of the program will help to gauge interest and direct efforts.

Monthly topics already scheduled include:

• All Hazards Principles of Preparedness
• Emergency Routes and Evacuation Planning
• Home Preparedness
• Preparing for Your Pets
• Extreme Heat and Wildfire Preparedness
• Water and Utility Preparedness
• 2 Weeks Ready
• Winter Weather Preparedness

The campaign hopes to establish a culture of preparedness in Wilsonville that yields a safer, better connected, and more resilient community in the face of a crisis.

For more information, visit WilsonvilleReady.com.

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