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3A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2017 Long Beach abandons plan for $4M tsunami shelter project New reports say much taller berm would be needed By AMY NILE EO Media Group LONG BEACH, Wash. — The city is halting work on what would have been the first tsunami shelter of its kind in North America. New scientific reports and preliminary findings of a study foiled the city’s plan to build a 32-foot-tall cement berm behind Long Beach Elemen- tary School. The city last month received the early findings of a study that indicates the berm would need to be built 62.4 feet above average high tide to keep peo- ple safe during a worst-case tsunami. That’s a considerable increase from the 48-foot stan- dard the city had been using to design the shelter meant to keep about 800 people safe. “It’s not feasible to build a berm that high,” Community Development Director Ariel Smith said. “It’d basically sink into the ground.” The project, which was two-thirds of the way through the design pro- cess, has cost $449,500 so far, she said. The city spent at least $56,000 of its money on Ariel Smith the project. The Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency and the Washing- ton State Military Emergency Management Division picked up the rest of the tab. The City Council did not include any money for the project in the 2018 budget, Long Beach Administrator David Glasson said. Delays The city delayed the project after an engineer with the Amer- ican Society of Civil Engineers reached out in late 2016 to let Long Beach leaders know new research was coming out this year that would likely change the standards for building shel- ters for a worst-case tsunami. However, scientists and engineers with the national society and the state disagreed on the new findings, Glasson said. Some suggested the city would need to build a 50-foot- tall berm to keep people safe. “We had experts upon experts upon experts arguing Oregon’s high school grad rate remains third-worst in nation Associated Press PORTLAND — New fig- ures show Oregon once again has the third-worst high school graduation rate in the country. The Oregonian reported the National Center for Educa- tion Statistics says Oregon, for the second straight year, ranks 48th in the nation in students graduating from high school. Oregon ranked No. 47 for two years before that, but sank Oregon sends aid to battle California wildfires Associated Press PORTLAND — Ten strike teams from all over the state and 15 Red Cross disaster relief responders are on their way to help battle several massive blazes and provide relief north of Los Angeles. Some of the Red Cross responders are from Astoria. Responders from Ore- gon and southwest Washing- ton will work in disaster relief shelters and deliver medi- cal aid to those staying in the shelters. Additional deploy- ments are expected in the next few days. The largest and most destructive of the fires, an 85-square-mile wildfire in Ventura County northwest of Los Angeles, had nearly reached the Pacific on Tues- day night after starting 30 miles inland a day earlier. The fires have burned more 80,000 acres. Nearly 200,000 people have been told to evac- uate their homes and more than 430 of them spent Tues- day night at seven Red Cross shelters Strikes teams from Oregon will come from Lane, Mult- nomah, Washington, Linn, Marion, Clackamas, Klamath and Yamhill counties. A com- bined team from Polk, Linn, and Benton counties and a team from the Rogue Valley area are also en route. State fire officials say five more strike teams will be dis- patched later today. The Ore- gon Fire Marshal said it is also sending heavy equipment to help. a notch when Alaska raised its success rate. The only states with lower rates than Oregon are Nevada and New Mexico. The new rates are for the Class of 2016. Oregon got 74.8 percent of students in its Class of 2016 to earn diplomas within four years of starting high school. Oregon plans to release graduation rates for the Class of 2017 in late January. ‘It’s not feasible to build a berm that high. It’d basically sink into the ground.’ Ariel Smith among themselves,” Glasson said. So the city asked research- ers at the University of Wash- ington for help. The research- ers agreed and didn’t charge the city for the study. Long Beach was also able to use the donation of the study as its match for the design grant, Glasson said. The city estimated the berm would cost about $4 million to design and con- struct. Long Beach had been approved for another fed- eral grant of $1.5 million and $250,000 from the state to help pay for it. But if the city wanted to build a taller berm, they’d have to start over, Glasson said. “You can look at it as for- tunate or unfortunate,” he said. On one hand, the berm could have saved lives. On the other, Glasson said, building it might have given people a false sense of security if it wasn’t adequate for a worst-case tsunami. Back at square one City and Pacific County officials say dozens of evacua- tion sites are needed to provide enough tsunami shelters for the county’s year-round population of about 20,500 and its swell of seasonal residents and tourists. Glasson and County Emer- gency Management Direc- tor Scott McDougall estimate it would take about 30 berms, towers and buildings to keep people out of harm’s way. Without a tsunami evacu- ation shelter, the best people can do is get to high ground quickly after an earthquake. Glasson said once the shak- ing stops, peninsula residents should have about 25 minutes before the towering waves and flooding water comes. Experts and emergency managers say most people sur- vive tsunamis. But those who live on the peninsula should be ready to fend for themselves for weeks in the aftermath of a disaster while waiting for help to arrive. 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