Portland Slips Up with Storm Response

Photo: Jenny Kane / AP

As we all struggled through the bitter cold weather during the blizzard that walloped Portland Oregon from Jan. 13 through the weekend and well into the following week, some of our neighbors weren’t so lucky.

For those who don’t even have four walls and a roof over them to fight off the wind, snow, cold, and wet it was especially brutal. Those who had to venture outside of their homes for work or travel faced tremendous peril. What we know now is that in all, 12 lives were lost during the maelstrom of ice and gnawing temperatures well below freezing. And while some of the tragedy was beyond control, the city of Portland’s response to the blizzard was frankly shameful regarding those most vulnerable to the storm. 

At least four individuals died of hypothermia during the storm’s initial blast in Portland, official records show. 

Portland officials had devised a shoddy plan to assist in the aftermath of a bitter storm, despite past winters proving that we need better preparations. Warming shelters and street outreach crews were implemented with limitations to mitigate the occurrence of winter. 

Ahead of the storm, on Jan. 8, city officials made strict agreements on contingency plans that limited the city’s ability to accommodate enough people through shelters in buildings or temporary housing. Portland officials stipulated that the city would only provide city buildings as shelters on the agreement that Multnomah County would hire security guards: no guards, no shelters. 

By Wednesday, Jan. 17, most of the arranged 10 warming shelters that were open, whose capacity was set to care for 740 individuals, were shuttered and our houseless neighbors were swept into the cold. Meantime, Clackamas County shelters stayed open to accommodate as many of our community members as possible through the bitter storm, as well as emergency shelters in other nearby counties.

Transportation plans to assist people in need were also canceled by the city, abandoning the most desperate to navigate the icy chaos in hopes of surviving the cold on their own. In the dead of winter, the City of Roses seems to lose its petals, and truth bares its thorns.

How will Portland officials, such as the mayor and city council members, be held accountable for the loss of life during the storm? How will they prepare the city and its population for the next storm? And how can we, personally, do better for our neighbors?