Depoe Bay committee presses outreach as sirens remain inoperative; county holds tsunami mapping meetings

Depoe Bay's Emergency Preparedness Committee devoted a portion of its July 14 meeting to tsunami alerting, siren reliability and community outreach after members said several sirens in town have not worked for about two years.

The committee discussed two public meetings on proposed tsunami evacuation maps: Lincoln City on Aug. 28 and Newport on Aug. 29. Debbie, committee member, described the sessions as opportunities for residents to react to proposed evacuation prototypes and said county staff are seeking local feedback to improve realism for people who live and work in affected neighborhoods.

Why it matters: many Depoe Bay residents and the summer tourist population rely on a mix of notification methods (phones, reverse-911 systems, radio) to reach high ground quickly during a local tsunami. Committee members said the practical rollout of any new map must be tied to reliable alerting so visitors and residents can act.

Key points from the meeting

- Siren status and city position. Committee members reported multiple sirens have not been functional for about two years; one attendee said people walking downtown still assume sirens will sound on the waterfront. A city staff member said, "The city is not interested in redoing it," citing maintenance and recurring costs, but invited the committee to research options and present proposals to the City Council.

- Alternative alerts and business outreach. WorldMark staff said the resort can use a mass-text feature to reach guests on property; a WorldMark representative described mass texting as the property's primary way to notify visitors. County and committee members recommended promoting county-level Everbridge sign-ups and encouraging local businesses to register customers or guests on arrival so transient populations can receive alerts.

- Radio network and community testing. Randy, committee member, described a radio-communications primer and volunteer training that safety captain Michael Tomlinson has been running. Committee members proposed hands-on sessions to show residents how to open and operate radios in cache boxes and then schedule a test transmission to measure reach.

Next steps and outreach plans

Committee members agreed to: 1) encourage local businesses and tourist properties to sign guests up for county alerts and to use property-level mass-text lists; 2) coordinate with county staff on the August public mapping meetings and promote them to residents; 3) run targeted radio orientation sessions for residents who hold cache radios; and 4) prepare an information roll-out to explain which alerting tools (phone, radio, Everbridge) people should use while the siren issue is unresolved.

Ending: The committee recommended timing business outreach and a public communications push to coincide with any future siren testing or the county's public mapping events so residents and visitors receive consistent instructions.