Natural Disasters


Lane County is a wonderland of natural beauty. The rivers, lakes, mountains, forests and coastline are awe inspiring. However, these natural wonders can also be hazardous. Please take a look at the different types of hazards listed below. When these hazards occur they can sometimes be so severe that they cause a disaster.

Drought:
Drought is a long period of unusually dry weather that can cause serious damage to crops and pastures, low water levels in reservoirs and wells, water supply shortages, water use restrictions and increased risk of wildfire.

Earthquake: Earthquake shaking can be light or severe and cause objects to fall off shelves, crack walls, break chimneys, collapse shelves, shift buildings off foundations and, damage roads and bridges. All of these things can cause injury and death for people.

Flood: Heavy rain, a ruptured dam, a rapid snow and ice melt or even a poorly placed beaver or manmade dam can overwhelm a river or stream. The strong fast moving water can damage most everything in its path and leave behind vast amounts of silt and mud.

Landslide: A landslide's fast moving surge of rock and mud can move houses, cars, trees and everything else in its path - including people and animals. Some landslides can disrupt traffic and cause localized flooding from blocked roads, streams and culverts.

Severe Winter Storm: Severe storms involve ice build-up, freezing rain, heavy snowfall and extreme wind chill conditions. These storms commonly impact utilities and transportation routes. Severe winter storms can cause power outages and cause pipes to freeze and burst.

Tsunami: A tsunami is a series of ocean waves caused by an earthquake or volcano on the sea floor. Tsunami waves increase in height as they approach the shore. The amount of water and energy from a tsunami can cause major destruction.

Wildfire: Wildfires blaze uncontrollably and can burn everything in their path within minutes. 90% of wildfires are caused from careless human actions. Wildfires burn homes, kill people and animals, destroy the soil and pollute the air.

Windstorm: Winds in excess of 50 mph can impact any area of the County and can down trees and powerlines and damage houses and buildings. Windstorms are most prevalent on the coast.