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DailyAstorian.com // THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2022
149TH YEAR, NO. 111
Hyak
boat lift
project
gets boost
‘BEAT THE WAVE’
The s tate L egislature has approved $7
million in funding for Hyak Maritime’s
boat lift project at Tongue Point, which
would be the fi rst zero-emission electric
mobile lift operating in the U.S.
The grant covers a sizable portion of
the project, expected to cost $35 million
for the lift and investment in the site.
The mobile lift would be able to hoist
vessels weighing up to 1,500 tons, allow-
ing it to service boats that would other-
wise travel out of state or get on a waitlist
for repairs at a Portland dry-dock.
Hyak believes the $21 million lift will
alleviate pressure on a maritime indus-
try that has seen 16 shipyards in Ore-
gon and Washington state close in the last
15 years, as well as an increase in fed-
eral regulations requiring vessels to be
inspected more frequently.
“There’s this horrible collision of sup-
ply and demand: we’ve got a lot of ves-
sels that need to be inspected, very few
places that can do it,” said Robert Dorn,
Hyak’s CEO. “Tongue Point’s kind of the
See Boat lift, Page A6
Landslide
money
targeted at
priorities
BEAT THE WAVE
Read the reports and maps from
the Oregon Department of Geology
and Mineral Industries at:
https://www.oregongeology.
org/tsuclearinghouse/
beatthewave.htm
State report details new earthquake,
tsunami models for the North Coast
A $7 million grant
from the state Legislature
By ABBEY McDONALD
The Astorian
$1.50
The latest information covers Astoria, Cannon Beach, Arch Cape and Falcon Cove
By ERICK BENGEL
The Astorian
n the brief interval between a
megaquake and a tsunami, it will be
important to know where to head for
safety — and how fast to get there.
T he Oregon Department of Geol-
ogy and Mineral Industries has
released new “Beat the Wave” reports
for Astoria and the South County
communities of Cannon Beach, Arch
Cape and Falcon Cove.
These are the latest, and fi nal,
reports for Clatsop County in the
agency’s “Beat the Wave” series,
which models and maps Oregon
Coast communities that are vulner-
able to a quake along the off shore
Cascadia Subduction Zone. The
I
agency has already published reports
for Hammond, Warrenton, Clatsop
Plains, Gearhart and Seaside.
Scientists say there is a reasonable
chance that a massive earthquake, fol-
lowed by a series of tsunami waves,
could hit the Pacifi c Northwest within
the next half century. Anyone in the
inundation zone will have minutes —
perhaps 30, perhaps 10 — to reach
higher ground, likely by foot.
Cities that lie on the coast , such as
Seaside and Cannon Beach, will get
hit fast and hard. Astoria, situated on
the Columbia River, is not as endan-
gered, but fl ooding is almost certain,
as are other quake-induced impacts.
Land will liquefy and slide. Roads
will be blocked or broken. Bridges
and buildings may collapse. Infra-
structure, from plumbing to electri-
cal power, will be damaged and dis-
rupted. Emergency response could be
paralyzed.
Of Oregon’s coastal counties, Clat-
sop is at the highest risk based on the
population and property that lie in the
inundation zone, according to Tiff any
Brown, the county’s emergency man-
ager. “We have the greatest number of
locations where you’re challenged to
get to high ground,” she said.
Years ago, the Department of Geol-
ogy and Mineral Industries published
tsunami inundation maps showing the
areas inland where scientists expect a
tsunami to travel. Black arrows indi-
cate recommended evacuation routes.
See ‘Beat the Wave’, Page A6
SCIENTISTS SAY THERE IS A REASONABLE CHANCE THAT A MASSIVE
EARTHQUAKE, FOLLOWED BY A SERIES OF TSUNAMI WAVES, COULD HIT
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WITHIN THE NEXT HALF CENTURY. ANYONE IN
THE INUNDATION ZONE WILL HAVE MINUTES — PERHAPS 30, PERHAPS
10 — TO REACH HIGHER GROUND, LIKELY BY FOOT.
Tsunami evacuation maps are placed along the Astoria Riverwalk.
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
Near hospital and
at First and Commercial
By KATIE FRANKOWICZ
KMUN
Anyone who has spent time in Astoria
or considered buying property in the city
often learns one thing very quickly: It is a
landscape prone to sliding.
The evidence of past slides can be as
subtle as oddly slanted trees on a hill-
side, but the scar of one slide visible just
beyond two major tourist attractions —
the historic Flavel House M useum and
the Oregon Film Museum — is more
obvious.
A looming retaining wall where W.
Bond Street narrows and meets Hume
Avenue also speaks to the city’s moving
hillsides. It holds back a massive slide
that twisted a portion of Commercial
Street above.
See Landslides, Page A6
Developer gathers feedback on Heritage Square
Parking, location,
mental health are
concerns at open house
By NICOLE BALES
The Astorian
Lydia Ely/The Astorian
A workforce housing project is being proposed for Heritage Square.
Dozens of people attended the
fi rst open house on a proposed
workforce housing project at Her-
itage Square, with the most com-
mon concerns centered around
parking, the location downtown
and the mental health component.
Representatives from Edlen &
Co., the Portland-based developer
collaborating with the city, and the
other partners set up stations at the
Astoria Armory on Monday eve-
ning covering diff erent aspects of
the project. More than 120 people
signed in to review the plans, ask
questions and leave comments.
The project would involve
workforce housing for lower-wage
workers and supportive housing
for people struggling with mental
health and substance abuse chal-
lenges and facing homelessness.
Amy Baker, the executive direc-
tor of Clatsop Behavioral Health-
care, Clatsop County’s mental health
and substance abuse treatment pro-
vider, said many of the questions
involved how people would qualify
for the supportive housing.
“The fear is that somebody will
just walk in off the street and get
housed,” she said.
There would be a process with
intermediary steps, Baker said.
People would need to demonstrate
some level of readiness and those
who are receiving treatment from
Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare
would be prioritized.
At the open house, p eople were
able to leave comments on paper
and through the city’s website.
See Heritage Square, Page A6