Great article Dennis!

I feel very proud to live in a city where our leaders take such concerns with forethought, yet I'm not entirely convinced that our public preparations are adequate - nor should any readers.

Time and time again we are reminded that government agencies and plans fail. The best counter to this is self-preparedness.

A follow up article that contains useful information about products that individuals could buy to improve their own preparedness would be awfully handy. Recommend that your readers stock up on canned food, water, MRE's, and camping gear. The cheap handy stuff that even hipsters can afford.

My contribution to this article would be the recommendation of the simple Chinese radio the BaoFeng UV-5R. This hand-held walkie-talkie has enough value packed in that the competitive price tag could easily be $200+ dollars - Yet, it is sold on Amazon.com for about $50. This dual band radio has the capacity to communicate on emergency channels (police & fire), listen to HAM communications, plus batteries are cheap, and it's well-built. This could give those people in the West Hills the capability to know exactly what is happening without crowding an emergency camp packed with hundreds of desperate people.

Obviously I would recommend a self-defense capability as well, but that may not be “fit to print” in the Mercury. Maybe if you did a zombie article...

Yes, let's all buy Chinese radios...THAT WILL MYSTERIOUSLY STOP WORKING WHEN THE REDS START PARACHUTING IN. I had you pegged as a "Manchurian Candidate" from the start, fid_ax.

I've always thought that Portland's Bureau of Emergency Management should be called the Willamette Emergency Analysis, Response, Education, Forecasting, Understanding, Communication, Knowledge Etcetera Department (WEAREFUCKED).