Update: citywide BEECN drill in progress
Happening now: 48 BEECN sites across the city are engaged in a first-ever citywide test of the Basic Earthquake Emergency Communication Node (BEECN) system. Starting at 9:00 a.m., westside volunteers began wheeling out the BEECN caches, putting up the tent shelters, reading the instruction manuals and creating from scratch a post-earthquake emergency radio communication network. The practice drill coincides with the regions three-day disaster preparedness exercise known as the Portland Area Capabilities Exercise or "PACE Setter."