SC Community Gathering: On Resilience

Over the last few years, communities across Oregon have been facing increasingly severe impacts from climate change. From wildfires to icy conditions, flooding, shifting weather seasons, and more, Oregon communities have had to respond to and adapt to unprecedented weather and natural disaster events. Coastal communities need to share their experiences and foresight on what should be considered when planning strategies to build coastal resilience.

Across Oregon, there is a statewide effort to develop a Plan for a Resilient Oregon (PRO), a people-centered resilience strategy to help communities around Oregon adapt and thrive in the face of increasingly severe disasters. Through the Governor’s office, the Plan for a Resilient Oregon aims to be responsive to the unique cultures, demographics, histories, and hazards of Oregon’s diverse regions. There were four regions designed that do not adequately address the resilience planning focus that must be considered for the coast. The South Coast, in particular, has unique needs and must take a proactive approach to prepare our communities before disasters hit.

Even as we work to avert the worst potential impacts of climate change, we must become more resilient to those impacts that are now unavoidable. These impacts often disproportionately affect low-income communities and communities of color, reinforcing the need for equitable and proactive resilience planning and resource allocation. Climate resilience may look different on the South Coast right now, as the region is often sought out as a climate refuge, especially during smoky summers. Yet, we can not sit aside and not take the opportunity to champion critical investments that the Governor’s office must make happen to achieve resilient communities in Oregon.