Sunriver, OR -- The Oregon Department of Emergency Management hosts its Oregon Prepared conference in Sunriver this week. Deputy Director Matt Marheine tells KBND News the seminars and demonstrations helps governments and private agencies prepare, respond to, and recover from disasters. “We most certainly see the potential for earthquakes. We deal with wildfires, and floods, and winter storms, and landslides. So, there are a significant number of hazards that impact Central Oregon. And really across the entire state we see an increasing impact on drought,” says Marheine, adding the workshops help attendees build relationships, “Those hazards can be very difficult to plan for. The reason theses conferences are so special: it really builds the network. This conference allows these folks to build the relationship so that they can be that much more effective when things go bad.”

The approximately 500 participants also get hands-on training with techniques and equipment, “We offer the opportunity for people to see things like our emergency communications capabilities. We have Federal Emergency Management Agency resources here. We have our own agency resources from amateur radio. And really what this is trying to show people is how we can communicate during an event.”

Marheine says it's crucial to be alert for the eventuality of a disaster, “The people of Oregon need to put themselves in the driver’s seat about what could impact them, and what they’re going to do for themselves and their family. We live it 24/7. It is not if, it’s when.”

The Oregon Prepared conference continues in Sunriver through tomorrow.