Federal housing coming for Oregon wildfire survivors, four counties at ‘high risk’ for future disasters

(The Center Square) — The federal government is beginning to rollout temporary housing for survivors of the wildfires that raged across Oregon in September.

The Oregon Office of Emergency Management (OOEM) reported that by New Year’s, at least 4,021 homes were destroyed with 13 more homes seeing major damage.

The Oregon Department of Forestry reports that more than 2,000 fires burned in the state in 2020, at least two dozen of them major fires, which destroyed some 1.2 million acres in total.

OOEM estimates have pegged the cost of Oregon’s 2020 wildfires at around $600 million, which includes the cost of debris, ash, and tree removal.

According to KOIN-TV, authorities with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will begin setting up at least 16 temporary housing units within the month if weather permits.

Qualifying applicants whose homes were destroyed or saw more than $17,000 in damages may occupy the units for up to 18 months or through March 2022.

Last fall lawmakers passed a $65 million plan to buy struggling hotels to use as temporary shelters for housing wildfire survivors and the chronically homeless.

Nine non-profits are expected to be approved to manage the hotels on behalf of the state in January.

As of November 5, 13 Oregon counties including Linn and Marion had also opened up wildfire aid applications for private nonindustrial timberland owners.

Anyone living in Western Oregon is at high risk of living through more than just wildfires, according to a FEMA hazards database which lists Marion, Multnomah, Coos, and Clatsop Counties as “relatively high” risk regions.

Coos and Clatsop earned a spot on the list for high chances of coastal flooding and tsunamis.

Marion was identified for being at high risk of earthquakes and river flooding while Multnomah is described as being at high risk for earthquakes, volcanic activity, and ice storms.

Fear of earthquakes hitting Western Oregon has to do with longtime concerns related to the Cascadia Subduction Zone giving way.

The 600-mile fault line, which runs from Northern California through Vancouver, Canada, could cause up to $80 billion in damages and displace 250,000 people if it were to shift, according to a 2019 report by Oregon scientists.

However, that same report put the overall risk of the fault line shifting in the next 50 years at about 14% maximum.

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