TheEpicenter is in the news: "Will we be ready for the 'Big One'?" - Article written by Christian Hill at The Register-Guard in Eugene, Oregon, published on Sunday, August 16, 2015. (Article archived: "Will we be ready?" August 16, 2015, The Register-Guard). This interview was done in response to the article published in The New Yorker magazine ("The Really Big One" by Kathryn Schulz, July 13, 2015).
Photos courtesy of The Register-Guard.
...Bryan Nelson, owner of TheEpicenter.com, has seen more customer visits to his warehouse in west Eugene, which he attributed to the story. The 20-year-old online business sells emergency preparedness food and supplies.
The number of walk-in and pickup orders has increased from one or two per week to seven to 10 per week. Nelson said the customers have specifically said they've read the magazine story about 'The Really Big One'."
"I'm just starting," he recalled them saying. "What do you recommend?"
In July and August to date, the total orders in Oregon and Washington have increased 5 percent and 77 percent, respectively, from the same period last year, said Nelson's wife, Janet, who handles accounting for the business. The couple say they do typically see spikes in business when natural disasters generate a lot of media attention. They recalled people waiting for the warehouse to open in 2011 to buy potassium iodide tablets due to fears about radiation from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. In that case, a magnitude 9 earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant complex, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
There's nothing you can do about a natural event other than knowing you're prepared," Janet Nelson said. "We do have a lot of people who are very concerned."...