Throughout history, Oregon has been subject to a range of natural disasters - devastating floods, landslides, earthquakes, wildfire, and others - that have subjected the state to loss of life and property damage. Disasters can strain taxpayers' ability to pay for the losses, and governmental and non-profit relief agencies' ability to respond and insurers' ability to keep insurance affordable and available. These events weaken the core of any state - its businesses and communities.

These issues underscore a strong need for coordinated efforts aimed at risk reduction in Oregon communities.  Despite the growing recognition of the need for long-term coordination to reduce risk from natural disasters, many communities continue to experience difficulty in developing and implementing natural hazard risk reduction plans, policies and activities. Communities regularly suffer from a lack of technical and funding assistance, as well as insufficient coordination among public, private, and non-profit sectors at the local, regional, and statewide levels.

The Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience (Partnership) works to address these issues and offers a model of how increased communication, coordination and collaboration between diverse partners can assist communities in reducing their risk from natural hazards.