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THE ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, APRIL 6, 2021
County reports three new virus cases
The Astorian
Clatsop County on Monday reported
three new coronavirus cases.
The cases include a woman in her
40s living in the northern part of the
county. The others live in the southern
part of the county and include a woman
in her 30s and a man in his 40s.
All three were recovering at home.
The county has recorded 843 cases
since the start of the pandemic. Accord-
ing to the county, 19 were hospitalized
and seven have died.
Network: ‘Helping children who have
experienced trauma feel safe is key’
Continued from Page A1
“I think one of the big-
gest things that I’m excited
about is that there are
resources that exist in our
community and there are
people that are passion-
ate about thinking out-
side of the box and creat-
ing new resources that meet
the needs of our families,”
she said. “But a lot of times
there’s a lack of knowl-
edge of those resources,
there’s a lack of communi-
cation across the commu-
nity, across providers.
“I want to know every-
thing that there is available
in our community so that
I can ensure that my stu-
dents and their families are
aware of everything that’s
out there available to them
to help support them.”
Bowman also hopes
Resilient Clatsop County
will address gaps in
resources and education
through a multicultural lens.
She believes options like
Gray School , which hosts an
alternative school program
that provides a supportive
and ﬂ exible schedule, are
better suited for students
with complex needs.
As part of its early work,
the network implemented
“Handle With Care,” a
national model that con-
nects law enforcement
with schools when a child
is involved in or witnesses
a traumatic event that
involved law enforcement.
Police can call the child’s
school and share their name
and the words “handle with
care” so teachers know to
oﬀ er support instead of
discipline.
“As people continue to
become aware of the impact
of trauma on the brain, espe-
cially the developing brain
of youth, and of the frequent
negative health outcomes
those who experience early
childhood trauma face,
there is increasing oppor-
tunity to help develop ways
we can work together as a
community to help counter
the eﬀ ects of trauma by
increasing the resiliency of
children and families,” Alli-
son Whisenhunt, the direc-
tor of behavioral health and
care management at Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital in
Astoria, said in an email.
“We know that even one
positive, dependable adult
in a child’s life is an incred-
ible resiliency builder, and
since our children inter-
act with so many parts of
our community, Resilient
Clatsop County (RCC) has
developed a plan for people
from a variety of diﬀ erent
sectors to collaboratively
increase the ability for kid-
dos to heal from trauma and
to know they are important
and loved.
“At the heart of it is
safety, so while trauma pre-
vention is important, help-
ing children who have expe-
rienced trauma feel safe is
key.”
Whisenhunt said she
hopes that by helping chil-
dren build resilience and
heal from trauma, future
parents will be better
equipped to help their chil-
dren avoid and heal from
trauma, improving health
outcomes in the county.
“The fact that so many
people, community-based
organizations, school dis-
tricts, et al. have joined
forces to establish this net-
work is testimony to how
serious we are in building
trauma-informed and resil-
ience-building initiatives,”
Aitor Porro, the assistant
director at Consejo Hispano,
said in an email. “Together,
we can better understand
‘ the science’ and how we
can apply it in our sectors
and communities by provid-
ing community-based edu-
cation and public aware-
ness, which is paramount to
helping families.”
Dugan: He will miss the camaraderie
Continued from Page A1
“He said, ‘Oh, you don’t
pay anybody. T his is a vol-
unteer ﬁ re department,’” he
recalled.
The concept of a volun-
teer ﬁ re department struck
Dugan. A couple of years
later, when he saw a sign
seeking volunteers outside
of the ﬁ re department in Sea-
side, he decided to help out.
“I saw that and I go,
‘Wow. They must really be
hurting for people,’” he said.
“And they were there for me
when I needed it. Maybe I’ll
stop in and see if I can help
them out.
“That was a time in my
life, and it was a time in soci-
ety where volunteers were
very strong.”
Dugan joined Seaside
Fire and Rescue in 1989 as
a volunteer, and in 2000 was
hired as the department’s ﬁ re
marshal, which he saw as a
move to making his hobby
his work. He said he never
looked back.
Dugan’s last day at Sea-
side Fire and Rescue was
Friday. He began his new
role on Monday as d eputy
s tate ﬁ re marshal for District
1, which covers Clatsop, Til-
lamook and Columbia coun-
ties. The position is based
out of the Oregon State
Police oﬃ ce in Warrenton.
Seaside Fire and Rescue
has not yet replaced Dugan.
Fire marshals deal with code
enforcement, ﬁ re inves-
tigations and ﬁ re preven-
tion education, and Dugan
was the only one in Clatsop
County.
It has been a signiﬁ cant
gap for ﬁ re districts and
departments already operat-
ing with tight budgets. How-
ever, there are moves across
the county to ﬁ nd additional
funding to hire ﬁ re marshals.
Dugan sees the role of
d eputy s tate ﬁ re m arshal as
a liaison between local ﬁ re
districts and departments and
the state, as well as someone
who can help ﬁ ll gaps. He
looks forward to working
with people he already has
built relationships with over
the years.
Dugan described his
career in Seaside as at times
exciting, scary, tiring and
inspiring. He said seeing
people on their worst days
can weigh on emergency
responders . And, in a small
community, they often know
the people needing their
help.
He said watching kids’
learn at safety fairs and
school demonstrations was
a rewarding part of the job.
He will miss the camaraderie
at the ﬁ re department and the
shared sense of service.
“I’m still going to be
part of this ﬁ re department,”
Dugan said. “I’m still going
to volunteer as long as my
health allows me to.
“This is a volunteer ﬁ re
department that needs help.”
And it’s not just Sea-
side. Dugan said ﬁ re dis-
tricts and departments in the
county are in a time of tran-
sition, where there are not
enough volunteers to man-
age increasing call volumes
and demands.
He said society has
changed in a number of ways
from when he started volun-
teering , but he hopes to see
people continue to carry on
the tradition .
Gearhart: Project could cost $13M
Continued from Page A1
The only safe location in
a calamitous tsunami with
wave heights of 100 feet is in
the eastern foothills, he said.
Schultz said the idea that
High Point is the ideal evac-
uation site is an example of
“a neat narrative, something
that sounds great, sort of sci-
entiﬁ c — ‘high elevation’ —
but in reality far from it. It’s
something that feels good,
we’re doing the right thing,
it has an animated life of its
own that’s hard to counter.”
In 2019, the ﬁ re station
committee recommended
three concepts and locations
to the public to help guide
the decision-making pro-
cess, the existing location on
Paciﬁ c Way, Gearhart Park
at Paciﬁ c Way and Marion
Avenue and the High Point
site. A survey indicated vot-
ers did not want a station at
the park. The existing loca-
tion is considered at risk of
collapse and ﬂ ooding.
In narrowing down sites,
members of the commit-
tee relied on state geologic
data and scientiﬁ c trends to
prepare for a large tsunami,
which encompasses 95% of
the possible ﬂ ood scenarios,
consultant Tom Horning, of
Horning Geosciences, said
in 2019.
A small or medium sce-
nario would encompass only
79% of the modeled wave
scenarios, Horning said at the
time. At between 62 feet and
65 feet, the High Point site
oﬀ ers the greatest elevation.
Meg Reed, coastal shore
specialist with the Oregon
Coastal Management Pro-
gram, called the High Point
site “the most tsunami resil-
ient location of the three, and
we support the city’s eﬀ orts
to move forward with this
location above 50 feet.”
Gearhart is considering
a November bond vote on a
new resiliency station High
Point, designed to provide a
larger, more secure structure
at less risk from a tsunami.
The project could cost $13
million.
‘PEOPLE ARE GENERALLY NOT
AWARE THAT 40% OF THE HIGH
POINT SITE WOULD BE FLOODED
BY THE VERY TSUNAMI THAT
GEARHART USES TO DEFINE ITS
BUILDING ZONE.’
Stewart Schultz | university professor
Schultz said the south-
west corner of the property
at High Point would be 25 to
30 feet underwater in a large
tsunami, and would ﬂ ood
roughly 40% of the property.
“People are generally not
aware that 40% of the High
Point site would be ﬂ ooded
by the very tsunami that
Gearhart uses to deﬁ ne its
building zone,” he said.
There are no safe assem-
bly areas anywhere along the
western dune front, includ-
ing at High Point, according
to Schultz.
The dune crest is wide
open to a direct hit from the
west, Schultz said. The dune
crest would be ﬂ ooded before
lower-elevation
optional
assembly areas to the east.
In the most extreme tsunami
projections, all sites in Gear-
hart would be ﬂ ooded.
The best assembly areas
are on the eastern foothills,
above 100 feet, he said.
The “least bad” options in
western Gearhart, the state’s
optional assembly areas,
about 800 yards from the
oceanfront on the Summit
ridge, and on the ﬁ rst hole of
the golf course, oﬀ er prefera-
ble options to the High Point
site, Schultz claims. “These
lower elevation sites are
safer than the highest eleva-
tion points on the dune crest
in western Gearhart,” he
said. “Simply high elevation
in west Gearhart is not safer.”
Schultz proposes stor-
ing emergency equipment
in Gearhart’s Hertig Station,
outside the tsunami inunda-
tion zone north of the city.
The lower part of the
High Point site was never
intended for development,
Horning, who serves on the
Seaside City Council, said
in response. “In my opin-
ion, Schultz doesn’t disclose
anything new,” he said . “He
recasts what has already been
disclosed, but very likely
forgotten or overlooked by
semi engaged people.”
To survive the most
calamitous tsunami would
require an assembly area at
least 100 feet above sea level.
That is about 20 feet higher
than the high point of the
Palisades.
There is no such loca-
tion in Gearhart, said Horn-
ing, who questioned why
Schultz does not discuss the
extremely low probability of
such a tsunami.
“Schultz makes a great
video,” he said . “Smooth
narration, good cadence,
compelling graphics. I think
he should acknowledge that
the city has a problem, as has
been determined by the steer-
ing committee, which takes
in more than just resiliency.
He should advocate for a
new station. ... One is left
wondering if he is just part
of the ‘not in my backyard’
mentality of western Gear-
hart. Survival and resiliency
are the targets.”
Schultz hopes the city and
residents pay attention.
“Two years ago I wrote a
series of letters to C ity H all
on these subjects and oﬀ ered
my services, before there
was any ﬁ nal decision,” he
said. “I received no substan-
tive response. This lack of
response was one reason I
decided to record some vid-
eos: I believed that if the city
is not interested in my input,
the public might be, and
might ﬁ nd a video format
engaging.”
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Parks: People should still be limiting travel
Continued from Page A1
A s more people begin to
receive vaccinations — and
after a year of shutdowns
and restrictions — tourism
experts and local promot-
ers have predicted a pent-up
demand for coastal experi-
ences and travel.
But state parks fund-
ing, which draws from l ot-
tery dollars, not taxes, took a
major hit last year as restau-
rants and other lottery venues
closed or operated in a lim-
ited fashion.
This shortfall and other
consequences tied to the pan-
demic disrupted the depart-
ment’s major repair sched-
ule, “which puts us at risk for
problems with water, sewer
and power systems as they
come under pressure this
summer,” said Chris Havel,
a spokesman for the Ore-
gon Parks and Recreation
Department.
“Our concern remains one
of capacity: it wears down
facilities, overtaxes restrooms
and trash, and can make it
harder to protect health,”
he said. “All people need to
remember we’re still work-
ing our way through a health
emergency, and do what they
know they need to.”
This means people should
still be limiting travel to close
to home, plan to bring their
own cleaning supplies and
wear face masks when it isn’t
possible to maintain recom-
mended social distances,
Havel said.
The changes to traﬃ c
management ahead of pop-
ular parks this year could
include the installation of live
webcams at some locations
so people can see which areas
are full before they travel,
according to Havel.
These measures are likely
permanent.
This spring, some state
park facilities are still closed
and group daytime and
camping sites are reopen-
ing slowly. Permits to use the
ocean shore for group events
will not be available until
July.
When the state has
reopened parks and trails
on the coast this year, it has
done so quietly. A rerouted
and repaired connector trail
between Ecola Point and
Indian Beach opened with-
out much fanfare this win-
ter, while Saddle Mountain
reopened after a long closure
in time for s pring b reak with-
out any big announcement.
That, said Ben Cox, man-
ager of the state’s Nehalem
Bay Management Unit,
which includes a number of
highly popular camping and
recreation sites, was “a bit on
purpose.”
On poor weather days this
spring, traﬃ c has been pre-
dictably low at coastal state
parks, he said.
But, he said, “on the sunny
days it was chaos. Overﬂ ow-
ing parking lots, overﬂ ow-
ing trash cans and people
everywhere.”
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