Looking to improve its level of disaster resilience and emergency preparedness, the City of Portland has recently announced their PREPHub (Emergency Preparedness Hubs) pilot program. Based on a partnership with Portland State University and Portland General Electric, the program is intended develop PREPHub infrastructure, which is designed to operate separately from the grid. In the event of a disaster, these hubs are expected to be able to provide points of recharge for cell phones, equipment, and other emergency communications devices, while also providing secure storage for critical devices.
“The City of Portland is leading the nation in testing innovative solutions to emergency preparedness thanks to MIT,” says mayor of Portland Ted Wheeler. “These hubs will serve as a place for the community to gather so that residents feel safe and prepared. I am proud that Portland can serve as a testing ground for innovation and can serve as a model for other cities in promoting community resilience.”
Guidance for the PREPHubs is expected to be provided by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Says associate professor of architecture and urbanism and director of the MIT Urban Risk Lab, Miho Mazereeuw of the project, “We are extremely excited to be able to work with the City of Portland, Portland State University, and Portland General Electric to turn that research into a new PREPHub prototype, designed especially for and with the people of Portland.”
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