Responding in the dark: health and social impacts and organizational adaptation after the 2021 Willamette Valley Ice Storm

Abstract Winter storms, specifically ice storms, greatly impact property, social connection, and access to health resources. The 2021 Ice Storm in Oregon’s Willamette Valley resulted in extensive power outages (POs) impacting over 330 000 households with half experiencing POs of over 72 h and 30 000 experiencing outages longer than a week. Using semi-structured interviews and focus groups with community organizations and community members, this paper documents the lived experience of those seeking to support vulnerable populations during this event. These outages resulted in a range of consequences from the individual to community scales, including health, essential services, utilities, livelihoods, and food systems. Community-based organizations played valuable, if reactionary, roles in providing support during the storm. Overall, our findings point to a critical need for improved preparedness, expanded emergency services, targeted rural support, and better communication and translation systems. Ultimately, we find that community organizations are placing greater emphasis on proactive planning, cross-sector collaboration, capacity-building, and localized adaptation, which will be essential for more equitable and resilient responses to future severe winter weather events.