3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JANUARY 26, 2016
Cannon Beach emergency
committee reconsiders escape plan
Assembly areas
WR be RXW¿WWeG
By NANCY MCCARTHY
For EO Media Group
Katherine Lacaze/EO Media Group
Climatologist and researcher John Stevenson speaks
on “Climate Change and the Coast” at the Listening to
the Land presentation at Seaside Public Library.
CANNON BEACH —
When a tsunami washes over
Cannon Beach, where will
the nearly , estimateG
survivors go?
7hey ¿rst will heaG to
assembly areas SlotteG
out by the city’s emergency
SreSareGness committee But,
while those assembly areas
are in Slaces that shoulG be
safe from high water, they
aren’t out¿tteG with the
supplies necessary to ensure
survival
Although city of¿cials
originally
planneG
to
immeGiately move survivors
from the assembly areas to
three cache sites where barrels
containing resiGents’ personal
supplies have been storeG, that
plan is being reconsiGereG
,nsteaG, the assembly
sites will have the temporary
shelters, fooG, water anG
communications
gear
necessary to help people for a
few Gays until the initial crisis
has subGueG
Climatologist Giscusses
effects of climate change
on coastal communities
5esearch
shows policy
strategies can
offset exposure
By KATHERINE
LACAZE
EO Media Group
Roads likely closed by
debris
A map GistributeG by /es
Wierson, a member of the
emergency committee, Guring
the committee’s work session
earlier this month, shows
that the roaGs leaGing to the
cache sites, as well as 86
Highway , will be closeG
Gue to Gebris 7he Gebris —
fallen trees from the CascaGia
6ubGuction =one earthTuake
that will trigger the tsunami
anG builGings, cars anG other
obMects GepositeG by the
tsunami — will prevent easy
access to the barrels
³/ess than percent of
the survivors can reach a
cache site in a reasonable or
safe time,´ Wierson saiG in a
letter to the committee
“The highway will have
a tremenGous amount of
Gebris,´ he tolG the committee
Guring the meeting “,t’s
going to have to be taken out,
anG it will take a tremenGous
amount of time´
The highway overpass
at 6unset BoulevarG may
collapse, anG some substations
might be GestroyeG, he aGGeG
)or awhile, only e[perienceG
hikers might be able to reach
the caches on the north
siGe, at Elk Creek 5oaG
in miGtown anG at 6outh
WinG in Tolovana, where an
emergency shelter is planneG
eventually
,n a stuGy, it was
GetermineG that if a tsunami
Submitted Photo
A tsunami evacuation map presents the downtown pedestrian route. Will people be able
to reach assembly sites?
hit Cannon Beach on a
summer Gay, , people
might reach the 10 assembly
sites
The stuGy was conGucteG
by Harry Yeh, an Oregon
6tate 8niversity professor
of civil anG construction
engineering with a specialty
in tsunamirelateG ha]arGs
Yeh reacheG his conclusions
by using a computer moGel of
where resiGents anG visitors
might be when the tsunami
arrives anG how long it woulG
take to reach the nearest
assembly area
Yeh estimateG that the three
most populateG assembly
areas woulG be at the Cannon
Beach Bible Church on Hills
/ane along with nearby
6pruce 6treet Arbor /ane,
reacheG by a combineG total
of 1,0 people miGTolo-
vana at 6urfcrest 6treet east of
the highway 1, people
anG Eighth 6treet anG Ecola
3ark 5oaG on the north enG
1,01 people
Other assembly areas are
at Yukon 6treet anG milepost
0 0 people, the highway
at Tolovana 0ainline 5oaG
, east 6i[th 6treet anG
OlG Cannon Beach 5oaG
, Haystack Heights anG
East Chinook 6treet ,
Elk Creek 5oaG east of the
highway 00 anG 6unset
BoulevarG at the highway
100
‘Super site’
The
committee
is
consiGering establishing an
assembly “super site” just
south of the Bible Church on
state Department of Transpor-
tation property between the
church anG Arbor /ane
The committee GeciGeG to
focus initially on preparing
the ¿rst three assembly areas
to make sure they are safe anG
that temporary shelters, water,
fooG anG communications are
available
But committee members
saiG an overall plan is neeGeG
that shows how the cache sites
anG the assembly areas are to
be useG anG what supplies
are neeGeG 0ore people also
shoulG be recruiteG to ¿ll
vacancies on the committee
anG to help out in local neigh-
borhooGs, they saiG
“I’ve been getting a
little frustrateG we seem to
be going in circles,” saiG
committee member Paula
9etter
The group GiscusseG how
Gif¿cult it was to coorGinate
the emergency prepareGness
committee efforts with other
groups in the city that also are
preparing for Gisasters
“6omehow, we neeG to get
the city, the committees anG
the volunteers all on boarG,”
City Manager Brant Kucera
tolG the group
Clinic serves primary, aGGiction neeGs
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
When she was chief opera-
tions of¿cer of 6easiGe’s Awak-
enings by the 6ea, a Grug anG
alcohol treatment center for
women, WenGy Hemsley saiG
a thought kept occurring to her
“I kept saying that someone
shoulG open a clinic that
proviGes primary care anG
ancillary support for people with
substance abuse,” Hemsley saiG
Hemsley, who haG alreaGy
founGeG her own meGical
billing company in 01 anG
been the CEO of Free By
the 6ea’s treatment facility
in Ocean Park, Washington,
turneG her thought into reality
in 01, founGing North Coast
MeGical Clinic
The clinic, a hybriG offering
primary care, substance abuse
anG mental health care services,
openeG in earnest last year in
Gowntown Astoria’s 6pexarth
BuilGing It recently expanGeG
into 1 0th 6t in the Mill
PonG neighborhooG, where it
will holG an open house from
to pm FriGay
Visiting from his clinic in
Hillsboro once a week to see
patients is Dr -oe McCarthy,
the former part-time center
physician at Tongue Point Job
Corps Center anG the meGical
Girector of the North Coast
MeGical Clinic The clinic also
employs a nurse anG a nurse’s
assistant Hemsley saiG she
is close to hiring two nurse
practitioners
Hemsley saiG she founG a
Gearth of primary care proviG-
ers for patients on the North
Coast The only other pri-
mary clinic she founG taking
patients, Columbia Memorial
Hospital Primary Care Clinic
in Warrenton, haG a wait list
approaching 11 months
“I think a lot of the meGical
neeGs are being serveG in these
emergency rooms, because
they can’t ¿nG people taking
new patients,” she saiG
The clinic aims to proviGe
primary
meGical
neeGs,
McCarthy saiG, along with
Drug treatment
North Coast MeGical
Clinic proviGes 6uboxone anG
Vivitrol, meGications to help
mitigate the painful effects of
opiate withGrawal that leaG to
a high rate of relapse
Hemsley saiG she has spent
much of her career in sub-
stance abuse treatment, anG
has maGe the mistake of Grop-
ping a loveG one at a treatment
center anG expecting them
to get ¿xeG, just to see them
relapse
“We’re not just giving you
pills anG hoping you’re ¿xeG,”
she saiG “It’s the whole
community”
Patients seeking treatment
at the North Coast MeGical
Clinic neeG to be screeneG
anG sign a treatment contract,
she saiG The clinic partners
with local outpatient treatment
centers, counselors, sobriety
G u ess w h a t d a y it is!
It’s Hump’s Day!!!
AT HUMP’S RESTAURANT
EV ERY W ED N ESD AY 4 -8 PM
Variety of services
The clinic offers a wiGe va-
riety of primary care services,
incluGing checkups, physicals,
nutrition, Gigestive, hormonal,
sexual health anG weight loss,
along with management of
meGication, chronic Gisease,
stress anG anger
immeGiate walk-in care anG
Grug treatment
No reservations, please
14 OUN CE N EW Y ORK
STEAK & BAK ED POTATO
$9.95
M ust present coupon to server.
N ot va lid w ith other offers.
All You Can Eat Chicken & Dumplings- Thursdays 4-8 pm $6.95
Prime Rib Fridays- starts at 5pm $9.95
Just 15 m in. from the Lew is & Cla rk Bridge on H w y. 30
Hump’s Restaurant- 50 W. Columbia River Highway
Clatskanie, OR. 503.728.2626
N OW O PEN
Frida y & Sa turda y
6a m -10pm
Video
clubs anG other specialists
for a holistic approach, while
proviGing meGication to help
“AGGiction is like Gia-
betes,” Hemsley saiG “It’s
something you neeG to man-
age your whole life AGGiction
is a Gisease People shoulGn’t
be GisgraceG”
Policy Gecisions maGe
toGay regarGing lanG use can
help communities aGapt anG
mitigate the negative impacts
of climate change, accorGing to
climatologist -ohn 6tevenson
6tevenson kickeG-off the
/istening to the /anG series
this year with his presenta-
tion, “Climate Change anG
the Coast,” at 6easiGe Public
/ibrary on WeGnesGay The
monthly speaker series, pre-
senteG by the North Coast
/anG Conservancy anG the
Necanicum WatersheG Coun-
cil, is offereG through May
6tevenson, a regional
extension climate specialist
with Oregon 6ea *rant anG
the Climate Impacts 5esearch
Consortium, helps communi-
ties responG to climate-Griven
changes in coastal ha]arGs,
water resources anG forest Gis-
turbance He examineG how
the warming climate is affect-
ing life on the coast anG what
the future might look like if
current trenGs continue
Addressing climate change
Many
rapiG
climate
changes can be contributeG to
human activity anG the emis-
sion of greenhouse gases,
which play a critical role in Ge-
termining the global tempera-
ture, 6tevenson saiG
The National Oceanic anG
Atmospheric AGministration
anG the National Aeronautics
anG 6pace AGministration re-
cently reporteG 01 was the
warmest year on earth since
recorG-keeping began in 10
The temperature along the Or-
egon Coast has changeG Guring
the past century, as well, anG is
steaGily increasing
Climate change affects
a lot of the earth’s systems,
such as fresh water sources,
vegetation, wilG¿re occurrence
anG wetlanGs
In fresh water systems, cli-
mate change leaGs to GecreaseG
summer Àow, increaseG water
temperature anG ÀooGing after
extreme precipitation events
For vegetation, the coast may
experience species shifts anG
low elevations may become
unsuitable for Douglas ¿r by
the miG- to late century
Fire Gisturbance also is
likely to increase, although there
is limiteG historical activity on
which to base assessments, 6te-
venson saiG WetlanGs also will
be affecteG by rising sea levels,
a byproGuct of climate change,
with a preGicteG loss or miti-
gation of estuarine habitat anG
tiGal swamps
Responding with policy
6tevenson was involveG
in a case stuGy calleG the
Tillamook County Coastal
Futures Project, GesigneG
to prepare for the threat of
coastal ÀooGing anG erosion in
Oregon’s coastal counties
During the project, which
took place over a year anG
a half, researchers took into
account three climate controls
that affect coastal ÀooGing anG
erosion: variability of wave
heights El Nixo anG /a Nixa
patterns anG range anG global
rising sea levels Another
aspect of the project lookeG
at how communities can Geal
with these factors
One objective of the project
was to answer the Tuestion,
“How much will we expose
ourselves to those risks?”
During the project, re-
searchers stuGieG various pol-
icy scenarios, such as what
woulG happen if warming
continues 5esearchers stuGieG
the potential effects of envi-
ronmental policies, as well as
what sort of risk homeowners
woulG be exposeG to over time
anG beach accessibility with
evolving climate scenarios,
6tevenson saiG
“That’s the nice thing about
Going these alternative scenar-
ios, is we can start to compare
these things,” he saiG “As we
move forwarG in time, the Ge-
cisions we make toGay about
planning have more inÀuence
than even the most extreme cli-
mate scenario on our exposure,
in this case, to ÀooGeG homes”
ACCE P T IN G N E W P AT IE N T S
As to ria Ch iro p ra ct i c
B ARRY SE ARS, D .C.
AU TO ACCIDEN TS
W ORK -RELATED IN JU RIES
D on ’t dela y! Ca ll toda y!
W e bill m ost in su ra n ce
com pa n ies in clu din g M edica re
5 03 -3 25 -3 3 11 2935 M ARIN E DR • AS TORIA
Upcoming Lifeguard
Certification Classes
Class Dates:
January 29 - 31 st
March 21 - 23 rd
Register by submitting
an application at
www.astoriaparks.com
under “ Jobs ”