The events of the 2004 Sumatra earthquake and tsunami  as well as Hurricane Katrina in 2005 have proven that most communities are ill prepared to undertake the long-term post-disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts necessary to bring a community back following a catastrophic disaster. The importance of this issue to coastal communities in the Pacific Northwest is heightened due to its location along the Cascadia Subduction Zone where the Juan de Fuca plate meets the North American plate. Earthquakes generated on this 800 mile long fault have far more widespread effects than other types of quakes in the region and have the potential to result in catastrophic impacts in coastal communities due to the generation of local tsunamis.

Recognizing the importance of these issues, the Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience, coordinated by the University of Oregon’s Community Service Center, Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup(CREW), the US Geological Survey(USGS), Oregon Emergency Management, and the City of Cannon Beach partnered in an effort to better prepare coastal communities in the Cascadia Region for the short-term recovery and long-term reconstruction efforts communities may face as a result of a catastrophic Cascadia Subduction Zone event.

This effort involved the partners listed above in a variety of ways and resulted in the development of four distinct products. The project was broken into three main phases, which included:

Each of the three phases is described in more detail below.

PHASE 1 — The Process & Pilot Project

The City of Cannon Beach, the Oregon Natural Hazards Workgroup (ONHW) at the University of Oregon, the United States Geological Survey (USGS), and the Cascadia Regional Earthquake Workgroup (CREW) developed and implemented a Community Post-Disaster Recovery Forum designed to (1) gather public input on disaster recovery issues and (2) develop potential recommendations to address the issues. The City of Cannon Beach forum served as a pilot community for the implementation of the post-disaster recovery planning process. The intent of this phase was to develop and implement a process that could be replicated in other coastal communities located along the Cascadia Subduction Zone. The intent of the pilot project in Cannon Beach was not to produce a plan, but to identify strategic activities the community could engage in to better prepare for the recovery issues they may face.

Phase One includes two main products – a community post-disaster recovery planning forum report and a case study report, each of which are described in more detail below.

Community Post-Disaster Recovery Planning Forum Process Report
The purpose of this report is to describe the process used to conduct a community post-disaster recovery planning forum aimed at addressing a catastrophic disaster event. The report highlights methods used to implement and document the forum process in Cannon Beach and findings from a post forum participant evaluation. This document is intended serve as the basis for the development of the Forum Manual and Lessons Learned reports described in Phases Two and Three.  This report is complete as of June 30, 2006. The report is organized into the following sections:

• Section 1: Introduction – This section highlights the importance of and recommended steps involved in post-disaster recovery planning.
• Section 2: Methodology – This section describes the methods used to implement the community post-disaster recovery planning forum and includes the tasks taken prior to the forum, during the forum, and after the forum.
• Section 3: Post-Forum Evaluation – This section summarizes the key findings from forum participant interviews conducted following the forum.
• Appendix A: Forum Materials – This appendix includes the forum agenda and handouts utilized during the forum.
• Appendix B: Participatory Process – This appendix includes a detailed summary on participatory process research.
• Appendix C: Post-Forum Evaluation Transcripts – This appendix includes the verbatim responses to the forum participant evaluation conducted via telephone following the forum.
• Click here to download a pdf copy of the report

• Section 1: Community Profile – This section describes Cannon Beach in terms of geography, population, economy, land and development, and critical facilities and infrastructure.
• Section 2: Existing Policy Framework for Post-Disaster Recovery – This section documents plans and policies that already exist within Cannon Beach that could be utilized to implement post-disaster recovery planning related activities.
• Section 3: Forum Outcomes – This section documents the issues and priorities that the Cannon Beach forum participants identified during the planning process.
• Section 4: Post-Disaster Recovery Framework and Recommendations – This section provides an overview of how Cannon Beach can organize to plan for long-term post-disaster recovery and also outlines specific activities that can be implemented locally.
• Appendix A-D: Individually Identified and Prioritized Issues – This section lists all of the individual issues identified by forum participants for each of the four themes – population, economy, critical facilities and infrastructure, and land and development.
• Click here to download a pdf copy of the report

PHASE 2 — Lessons Learned Manuscript

Based on the experiences in Cannon Beach and both reports from Phase One, the ONHW and the USGS will develop a lessons learned report that will identify where the forum methodology worked well and where it needs improvement. The lessons learned manuscript will also identify next steps aimed at improving the community post-disaster recovery planning forum methodology so that it may be implemented in other communities in the future.

Based on the experiences in Cannon Beach and both reports from Phase One, the ONHW, CREW, and USGS developed a community post-disaster recovery planning forum manual that can be used to develop and implement community post-disaster recovery planning forums in other communities facing catastrophic disaster threats.  The manual is organized into the following three phases:

1. Pre-Forum Phase
   
1. Build the forum organizing team
   
2. Identify and invite forum participants
   
3. Collect community based data
   
2. Forum Phase
1. Facilitate forum session #1
   
2. Develop draft strategies
   
3. Facilitate forum session #2
   
3. Post-Forum Phase
1. Develop work plan
   

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