OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2017
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
Water
under
the bridge
Compiled by Bob Duke
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
SOUTHERN EXPOSURE
10 years ago this week —
2007
On Independence Day in Gearhart, participation takes top billing
over observation. The city invites families to dress in patriotic colors
and walk the parade route.
“It just kind of evolved this way,” said Dennis McNally, city admin-
istrator of Gearhart for the past 12 years. “I think a lot of years there are
more people in it than watching it.”
McNally said that at one time the parade consisted primarily of fish-
ermen pulling their dories through town. He said that when parade
organizers started to invite families to become part of the parade, long
before he worked for the city, far fewer people opted for the sideline or
chose to line the sidewalk.
“In recent years we’ve had as many as 2,000 or 3,000 people here
for the event,” said McNally. “It has just become larger and larger. It is
our own organized chaos.
The radio room of the Lightship Columbia is packed with
large, serious-looking metal communication equipment, some
from the World War II era. It’s a small space below decks in a
50-year-old ship permanently moored outside the Columbia
River Maritime Museum.
But it provides a window on the world for Astoria resi-
dents Ed Aho and Gene Brown.
The two longtime members of the Sunset Empire Amateur
Radio Club spend every Saturday afternoon there, showing
museum visitors how a shipboard radio room used to oper-
ate, and contacting fellow amateur ham radio operators all
over the globe.
Last month, SEARC celebrated the Lightship Columbia
radio room’s 25th anniversary. The ship, decommissioned in
1979, is the last in a series of Columbia River lightships that
began marking the entrance of the river in 1892.
50 years ago — 1967
Visitors came to the Clatsop beaches by the thousands during the
first half of the four-day Fourth of July holiday, enjoying the finest
weather of the year so far.
Temperatures were in the 90s at Cannon Beach, Seaside, Gearhart
and in the Astoria area.
A small-scale Viking
“dragon ship” of the style
of 10 to 20 centuries ago
will be launched at Asto-
ria Yacht Club Thursday
evening.
The boat is an 18-foot
replica of the Viking ship
that was dug up at Goks-
tad, Norway, in 1880, just
1,000 years after it had
been used to house the
The Daily Astorian/File
burial of a Viking king or The 18-foot replica of a ninth cen-
chieftain.
tury Viking dragon ship shown
The 18-footer was built above was built by Ron Larson, at
by Ronald Larson of Asto- right, and will be launched Thurs-
ria Marine Construction day evening at the Yacht Club.
Co. as a result of conver-
sations about Viking lore with Ed Ross, 600 West Lexington,
while Larson was building a yacht for Ross during recent
months.
“It’s due to Ross’ interest that the boat was built,” Lar-
son said.
SALEM — Gov. Tom McCall today signed the controversial beach
bill and reported measurements already under way confirm “to a T” the
16-foot elevation line defining the dry sand area.
The measure, passed by the Legislature after a sharp controversy,
secures continued public use of the beach area. It also provides for zon-
ing to prevent the erection of buildings and barriers without a permit
from the state Highway Department.
75 years ago — 1942
Official Dedication, 8 Vaudeville Acts, Dancing Planned;
Stamps Admission
What: Dedication and opening of Astoria’s new $150,000
community recreation building and USO club on Exchange
Street, between 16th and 17th streets.
When: Friday night, July 3, starting at 7:30 sharp. The
building will be opened at 6.
Who may come? It is the public’s show and the public is
invited along with servicemen.
How much does it cost? For adults: a 25-cent war stamp.
For children: a 10-cent war stamp. THE PURCHASER
KEEPS THE STAMP HE BUYS AND MERELY SHOWS IT
AT THE DOOR FOR ADMISSION. It is his stamp, his share
in freedom.
What is the show? Official dedication and opening of the
building. The Camel Caravan, including eight acts of vaude-
ville. Dancing and open house.
Wilfred Parman of L.G. Parman & Sons, Birkenfeld sheep ranch-
ers, has submitted a claim to the state game commission for $180 for 23
sheep allegedly killed by bears on the Parman property south of West-
port. The Parmans have lost some 50 sheep from bear depredations this
year.
Tsunami survival tips gleaned from Japan
This spring, Clatsop County
Emergency Manager Tiffany Brown
and Oregon State University Exten-
sion Coastal Natural Hazards Spe-
cialist Patrick Corcoran joined a
delegation of about 50 sponsored
by the Greater Portland Inc. eco-
nomic development agency on a
community resilience study mission
in Japan to observe firsthand how
public agencies and citizens have
recovered from the March 2011
earthquake and tsunami, which
left almost 16,000 confirmed dead.
What can Clatsop County bene-
fit from the experience? Corcoran
shared his thoughts on prepared-
ness, evacuation and adjusting our
mindset to meet a Cascadia Sub-
duction Zone event.
Q
: How does the Japanese
attitude and level of
preparedness differ from
ours?
A: For 1,000 years they’ve con-
tinually been dealing with earth-
quakes and tsunamis. These are
people who have experience, disci-
pline and practice.
I came back from
Japan basically
with my top 10
reasons why Japan
is not an analog
for Oregon, or a
model for what we
should do. The exact opposite. In
2017, it was all about engineering
show, I never saw more cranes and
backhoes, massive excavation proj-
ects and 3-kilometer seawalls — it
just goes on and on, and that’s in a
community of 20,000. Our default
approach is “don’t expect this to
happen” and then get bailed out by
the government after it happens.
Q: Does that frustrate you,
seeing all this vulnerability on the
Oregon Coast?
A: I suppose, yes. It’s a spiri-
tual practice not to just waste that
in frustration.
The other part of this is total
human nature. We haven’t had this
happen (here) since Western set-
tlement. We’re not going to get it
right or begin to get it right until it
happens again. That’s the reality.
That’s my frustration, how we are
neurologically challenged to really
wrap our heads around this.
What I came back from Japan
realizing was that we cannot afford
nor permit their engineering, their
solutions — therefore we have to
come up with our own. That leaves
evacuation, getting out of the dan-
gerous spots. That means minimiz-
ing the precious people and valu-
able things that you put there.
For those inevitable things that
need to be there, there are evacua-
tion routes to high ground. If you’re
motivated, it’s very doable.
Q: You said schools in Japan
served as massive evacuation cen-
ters. The new school campus is
being built near Seaside Heights
Elementary School. Do you think
it’s realistic to consider this facil-
ity as an evacuation shelter?
A: It doesn’t matter if they plan
it. It will happen. The good thing
about being up there is at least if
people are doing crazy stuff in a
manic mode they’re going in the
right direction rather than going to
the ocean. That’s a win right there.
The school will be a place people
will go. Worst-case scenario, it will
one of the few places large enough
to go where people can shelter.
Q: How can businesses make a
difference?
A: What I talk to businesses
about is a “till-to-the-hill” policy.
By that I mean, when they hire,
before their employees run their
first shift, they have to run from the
till of the business to the evacuation
Submitted Photo
Pat Corcoran demonstrating wall
height in Higashi-Matsushima,
Japan.
Submitted Photo
Emergency warning signs.
Submitted Photo
Visitors learn about Japan’s
technique for earthquake and
tsunami resiliency.
spot closest to that site. Then, when
any tourist asks them anything
about earthquake or tsunami evacu-
ation, they can answer in three sen-
tences: “I don’t know about all that.
But I’ve been to the evacuation
spot from here. And three, if you
feel an earthquake, follow me.”
It’s almost like a pat answer,
something they can even have fun
with. But it’s a means, it’s the mes-
sage. You don’t need to have pro-
grams and stickers and certifica-
tions. Just have your employees
know where they should go if they
feel an earthquake. They need to do
it anyway.
Q: How important is it to get
to high ground?
A: From the statistics I saw, if
you got to the high ground in 19
minutes, you were a survivor. If it
was 21 minutes you were a fatality.
When that wave comes, you’ve got
to be where you’ve got to be.
Q: Should you get in your car?
A: Cars are like purses with
wheels. We feel safer inside them.
We love our cars but you have to
understand the downside of cars.
If you have an electric garage door
opener you won’t have power. The
garage will have shifted and the
garage door that slides so nicely
will not open. Now you’ve wasted
six minutes trying to get your god-
damn car out of the garage. Let’s
say you do that. The power line is
now down and you can’t go any
further. Now you get out and start
running up the hill. So if I was
within foot distance that’s my plan.
A: Whatever’s shorter.
Q: How do we develop the
Oregon Coast with an under-
standing that we can armor it
like Japan? How do we do the
American version of that?
A: What I ask is: are we doing
planning commensurate with the
risk? Let’s start building like we’re
going to do when it happens next
time.
Oregon’s Coast has only been
developed for 100 years. This is
the perfect time to start putting
infrastructure up on top of hills.
Coming back from Japan, what
can we do? I like moving our
schools to the top of the hill. That
focuses everybody’s attention to
go up. So when they forget every-
thing except where their kids are,
at least they are going uphill.
Q: What are some other ways
we can work?
A: No matter what we do to
prepare for winter storms and our
chronic hazards is beneficial for
the catastrophic hazard as well.
The idea of having batteries, the
idea of having water.
We have to drill. What got
drilled got done. I’m looking at
small victories. We can have Boy
Scouts clearing brambles for evac-
uation trails in popular places
where people go. Multiuse things.
In the dunes, have bird observation
kiosks, sturdy observation kiosks
that provide some elevation. That’s
long-term stuff.
Q: What kind of Cascadia
Subduction Zone event is likely
to happen here?
A: The next one is the only one
I care about. The odds of it being
the worst is pretty small, a one-in-
10,000-year event. Far more likely,
it’s going to be closer to average.
Since we haven’t experienced this
before, and our emergency man-
ager planners entertain the worst
case scenario, that becomes the
default conversation. Tillamook
Head will fall into the sea and all
the bridges will fall down. That’s
not true. More likely it will be
closer to average at let’s take the
80th percentile — about 35 feet. A
45-foot observation tower is going
to be OK.
These things (the earthquakes)
vary between magnitude 8s or
magnitude 9s — basically an even
number. We’re equally as likely to
get a magnitude 8 off Gold Beach
as we are a full rip. In that sce-
nario, that is bad but not ugly. Far
more manageable. Not all of the
bridges are going to fall down.
Like winter storms, they’re on a
spectrum of badness. Whatever
we’ve done for our winter storms
and our chronic hazards is ben-
eficial for our tsunami hazard as
well.
There will be three phases in
the Pacific Northwest: one, the
Native American; second, our gen-
eration and the generation after
that; and three, everybody after
that. We are in this transition,
the first Western culture about to
understand what it means. What
we do afterwards, next time in the
rebuild, will be fundamentally dif-
ferent than what we are doing now.
For me, knowing that, can we
align our behavior with what we
know is going to happen?
R.J. Marx is The Daily Astori-
an’s South County reporter and edi-
tor of the Seaside Signal and Can-
non Beach Gazette.