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WASHINGTON, DC -- Life-saving Public Alert Radios are now being distributed to public schools in Oregon. The radios will provide students and faculty with direct notification of emergency information, including recommended safety steps for a wide range of emergencies. Funding for this vital initiative was provided for by Congress late last year.
"I have long held that mitigation programs, focusing on educating the public, and local warning systems are key to saving lives," said Congressman David Wu. "In Congress I have secured funding for education programs and for warning systems hardware. These radios are another step in the right direction to ensuring the safety of Oregonians."
Developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Public Alert Radio operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, sounding an alarm that will alert school personnel to hazardous weather conditions and other national or area-specific emergencies, even when other means of communication are disabled.
Congressman Wu has a direct role in Congress on emergency preparedness programs. He is ranking member of the Science Subcommittee on Environment, Technology and Standards which has jurisdiction over NOAA and the National Institute of Standards and Technology which leads the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program.
Congressman Wu's work in Congress and in Oregon has helped educate and prepare residents of coastal communities about the threat of a coastal earthquake and subsequent tsunami. Last year, Congressman Wu secured an additional $1.8 million for community-based mitigation programs that improve tsunami preparedness in at-risk areas of the United States such as the Oregon coast, and $500,000 for the city of Seaside to purchase tsunami warning hardware. Congressman Wu also held a tsunami preparedness forum in Seaside that provided the public with the opportunity to ask questions and receive the most up-to-date information on tsunami preparedness.
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