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About Cannon Beach gazette. (Cannon Beach, Or.) 1977-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 14, 2015)
August 14, 2015 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com • 5A I New Yorker story provides dubious advice just want to thank The New Yorker magazine for letting us all know that a hugely de- structive earthquake and tsuna- mi could hit us at any time. If it hadn’t been for that sto- ry, we on the North Coast might never have realized the danger we are in. It’s not like I and other local journalists — including author Bonnie Henderson, who wrote the book, “The Next Tsunami: Living on a Restless Coast” — haven’t been writing about this for many years. Entitled “The Really Big One” with a subhead, “The earthquake that will devastate the 3aci¿ c Northwest,” the story, written by Katherine Schulz in the July 20 New Yorker, is accompanied by a topographical map of the west coast of North America in red. At the coastline, from south of the California border extend- ing to beyond Canada, the map looks like it has been ripped apart; a wide jagged band of white — resembling a huge wave — covers all of the west coast and heads east. The caption next to the illus- tration says, “The next full rup- ture of the Cascadia subduction zone will spell the worst natural disaster in the history of the con- tinent.” Scary, huh? I have followed the Casca- dia subduction zone earthquake and tsunami story for over eight years. 0y ¿ rst story in the spring of 2007 included an interview At the Library with Rob Witter, formerly of the Oregon Department of Ge- ology and Mineral Industries (now with the U.S. Geological Service in Alaska), who had just discovered that sand originally from the beach in Cannon Beach had been thrown about a mile east of what is now U.S. High- way 101 during a past tsunami. Witter made the discovery after ¿ ltering soil and determining its properties and age in several ar- eas between the beach and forest east of town. State geologists created a new map for Cannon Beach, showing that land higher than 30 feet in elevation wasn’t as safe as ex- perts originally thought. The tsunami inundation zone now reached 80 feet high. With that news, the research intensi¿ ed. Oregon State Uni- versity Coastal and Ocean fac- ulty, along with staffers from DOGAMI, roamed the coast, seeking clues revealing the po- tential intensity and destructive path of the next Cascadia earth- quake and tsunami. They wrote reports about the sturdiness of local schools and other buildings. They created a model of the city of Cannon Beach in OSU’s wave research laboratory, knocked it down with model tsunami waves and studied their effect, then recreat- ed the town and started all over again. They created a computer sim- ulation of Seaside, showing how long it would take a tsunami to I MPRESSIONS By NANCY McCARTHY The potential Cascadia earthquake and tsunami isn’t news to us. reach shore, then Necanicum Drive, then the highway and Wahanna Road and how many people would die as the waves washed over them. A similar computer simula- tion was done for Cannon Beach, as well, showing how many peo- ple might make it across the Fir Street Bridge and to high ground on the north side, as well as to other elevated areas in town. A year after the 2011 tsuna- mi hit Japan, the principal from Kesennuma Junior High School in the Tohoku region told the story of how his school, at an elevation of 150 feet, became a shelter for six months. At least 16,000 people died in the 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsuna- mi, considered to be the most devastating natural disaster ever to hit Japan. Locally, residents in Seaside, Cannon Beach and Gearhart cre- ated committees and prepared for the Big One. They conducted drills, stored supplies, trained Community Emergency Re- sponse Teams and continued to perform myr- iad other tasks to ensure the public’s safety. State geolo- gists drew new tsunami maps for all of the Oregon coast. And at each step, I and other r e - porters were there, updating our readers and listeners on the latest developments. Some people paid attention and prepared. Others ig- nored it. Until The New Yorker writer discovered that the west coast faced potential, over- whelming disaster. “When the next full-mar- gin rupture happens,” Schulz wrote, “that region (the 3aci¿ c Northwest) will suffer the worst natural disaster in the history of North America.” It will kill 13,000 people and injure another 27,000, she says, citing the Fed- eral Emergency Management Agency’s estimates. Shelter will be needed for 1 million people. But we already knew that, didn’t we? Well, at least the rest of the nation knows now. My question is this: Will The New Yorker story make any dif- ference in our urgency to pre- pare for an event that, geolog- ically speaking, could happen any time? I hope so, because, to be honest, no matter how much we local journalists covered it, our stories never garnered as much attention as this one story has. But what’s going to be in- teresting on a whole other level is the local fallout from the July 28 New York- er’s follow-up story to Schulz’s original article. Schulz answers several ques- tions that arose following her initial story. This is what she ad- vises tourists: “If you are an out-of-town- er planning to spend a night in the tsunami zone: don’t. Go to the coast by day, for sure. But if you’re staying overnight, book a vacation rental, hotel room or campsite outside the inundation zone.” For the coastal towns that de- pend on overnight visitors, this New Yorker story might portend another, immediate disaster. Nancy McCarthy recently retired as editor of the Seaside Signal and the Cannon Beach Gazette. Her column appears monthly. CARLA O’REILLY Summer is time to relax and enjoy it all at the library Summer 2015 has been a busy one at our Cannon Beach Library, and much has been accomplished! Our new website is up, our eBooks program has been installed, and we’ve rededicated the beautiful Sroufe Memorial Fountain in its new location in front of our building. On top of all that, we had a suc- cessful July Fourth book sale and are enjoying the beautiful new landscaping surrounding the library en- trance. On Saturday, Aug. 8, children of all ages enjoyed a wonderful magic show, presented by the Amazing Brett Willyard. The event was free of charge. Now that so much has been accomplished, we can relax and enjoy it all — our shelves of wonder- ful books, the warm breez- es entering the library through the open door and windows, and espe- cially our friendly visitors who drop in to admire our lovely quilt, purchase pre- viously-enjoyed books, or just relax and read awhile. Speaking of the quilt, tick- ets are still on sale, and the quilt will be at the Farm- er’s Market on Tuesday, Aug. 18 for all to see. The lucky winner will be an- nounced at our Holiday Tea in December. Our second annual summer reading contest, CARLA O’REILLY “Catch a Dragon by the Tale,” began June 12 and will end on Aug. 24. The contest has been available for children, tweens, and teens. The grand prize win- ner in each age group also will be announced on Aug. 24. Cannon Beach Reads meets the third Wednes- day of each month from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and will gath- er on Wednesday Aug. 19 to discuss “The Lathe of Heaven.” Written in 1971 by Ursula LeGuin, the book is an award-winning sci- ence ¿ ction novel revolving around a character whose dreams alter reality, includ- ing past events. As always, new members are welcome. Looking ahead to Sep- tember, popular author J.A. Jance will be return- ing to Cannon Beach and will speak at the Coaster Theater at 2 p.m. on Sept. 15. Her talk was a much enjoyed event last summer, so this year’s will be well Obituary policy The Cannon Beach Gazette pub- lishes paid obituaries. The obituary can include a small photo and, for veterans, a flag symbol at no charge. The deadline for all obituaries is 9 a.m. the business day prior. Obituaries may be edited for spell- ing, proper punctuation and style. Death notices and upcoming services will be published at no charge. No- tices must be submitted by 9 a.m. the day of publication. Obituaries and notices may be sub- mitted online at www.dailyastorian. Cannon Beach Library hosted a Fourth of July book sale. worth attending. All in all, it’s been a wonderful summer at the Cannon Beach Library. Come share the rest of it with us! The Coaster Theatre Playhouse Presents com/obituaryform, by email at ew- ilson@dailyastorian.com, placed via the funeral home or in person at The Daily Astorian office, 949 Exchange St. in Astoria. For more information, cal 503-325-3211, ext. 257. pow ered b y It Could Be Any One Of Us JUNE 12 - SEPT. 5, 2015 -81(6(37 performances begin at 7:30 p.m. performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $15 or $20 Tickets: $18 or $23 Sponsored by The Ocean Lodge, Inn at Cannon Beach, Lodges at Cannon Beach, Probuild/ Milgard, Leland E.G. Larson and U.S. Bank Est. 1980 ANDREW MARC 239 N . H em lock • C an n on B each • 503.436.0208 BUDDIE ANDERSON/SUBMITTED PHOTO Sponsored by The Ocean Lodge, Inn at Cannon Beach, Lodges at Cannon Beach, Candi & Jon Holzgrafe and Dennis’ 7 Dees Tickets: 503-436-1242 or coastertheatre.com m u s ic firs t 108 N Hemlock Street, Cannon Beach, OR :HOFRPH'U:LVEH\0DUWLQ Erin Wisbey Martin, MD Obstetrics/Gynecology Family Medicine Dr. Wisbey Martin specializes in Women’s Health (Obstetrics and Gynecology) and Family Medicine. She is accepting new patients and looking forward to building a practice in North Tillamook County. Please join us in welcoming Dr. Wisbey Martin and her husband to the community. To make an appointment, call: (503) 368-2292 Manzanita Primary & Specialty Care 10445 Neahkahnie Creek Road, Manzanita adventisthealth.org/trmc DĂŶnjĂŶŝƚĂWƌŝŵĂƌLJΘ^ƉĞĐŝĂůƚLJĂƌĞ Appreciation Picnic &HOHEUDWLQJ ŽƵƌĐŽŵŵƵŶŝƚLJ͕ƉĂƟĞŶƚƐĂŶĚĐůŝŶŝĐƐƚĂī͘ WůĞĂƐĞũŽŝŶƵƐĨŽƌĂŶŽůĚĨĂƐŚŝŽŶĞĚƐƵŵŵĞƌƟŵĞƉŝĐŶŝĐ͊ &ŽŽĚ͕ůŝǀĞŵƵƐŝĐĂŶĚĨƵŶĨŽƌĂůů͘,ŽƉĞƚŽƐĞĞLJŽƵƚŚĞƌĞ͊ sunday, aug. join us ϭϬϰϰϱEĞĂŚŬĂŚŶŝĞƌĞĞŬZŽĂĚ͕DĂŶnjĂŶŝƚĂ Please note: hƌŐĞŶƚĂƌĞǁŝůůĐůŽƐĞĂƚϭƉ͘ŵ͘ŽŶƵŐ͘ϭϲƐŽ ƚŚĂƚĐůŝŶŝĐƐƚĂīĂŶĚƚŚĞŝƌĨĂŵŝůŝĞƐĐĂŶĂƩĞŶĚƚŚĞƉŝĐŶŝĐ͘ Tillamook Regional Medical Center ĂĚǀĞŶƟƐƚŚĞĂůƚŚ͘ŽƌŐͬƚƌŵĐ