2A • June 1, 2018 | Cannon Beach Gazette | cannonbeachgazette.com
Elsie-Vinemaple takes emergency role
‘Way behind the curve’
Inland
communities
bear burden
of tsunami
warnings
By Brenna Visser
Cannon Beach Gazette
ELSIE — When a tsunami
watch was issued early Jan.
23, dozens of people got in
their cars and headed for the
hills.
By 3 a.m., cars were strand-
ed on the side of the highway
— either from running out of
gas or from slipping off the
black ice that covered the high-
way that night. A bonfire was
already raging in the Camp 18
Restaurant parking lot.
Out to respond was the
Community Emergency Re-
sponse Team from Elsie-Vine-
maple, an unincorporated
town about 20 miles up High-
way 26. The 12-person team
walked along the road, going
car by car to make sure every-
one was safe.
“We were making sure
people weren’t frozen in their
COLIN MURPHEY/THE DAILY ASTORIAN
Joel Huckins unpacks a kit containing emergency response
supplies at the fire station in Elsie.
cars,” said team member Di-
ane Jette. “People didn’t have
gas in their tanks, with little
babies bundled up in the back.
They were cold and couldn’t
go anywhere.”
The event hardly surprised
the locals. In fact, it’s a phe-
nomenon that happens nearly
every time a tsunami watch
or warning is issued along the
coast.
As one of the first commu-
nities clearly out of the tsunami
inundation zone when heading
east from the coast, the all-vol-
unteer response team has come
to face the realities of being
a default evacuation center
when disaster strikes.
“If the coast gets threats
of inundation, like it did (in
2011), half the coast ends up
here,” said Assistant Fire Chief
Hans Mulder of Elsie-Vinema-
ple Fire Department.
“We get a major influx this
way.”
Like many community
emergency response teams in
Clatsop County, the one in El-
sie-Vinemaple developed after
the 2007 Great Coastal Gale
closed roads and shut down
power for almost two weeks.
Relative geographic re-
moteness, no communication
and multiple road closures
from tree blowdown and
flooding isolated the commu-
nity from major services, Jette
said.
Since then, the group has
worked to become as self-suf-
ficient as possible, conducting
training in emergency medical
response, search and rescue,
HAM radio operations and
mass casualty triage.
While out of the tsunami in-
undation zone, inland commu-
nities have concerns of their
own: flooding, power outages,
landslides. But the most press-
ing is an earthquake, which
could take out two bridges,
isolating the rural community
and anyone else who may be
there.
The team feels most emer-
gency efforts are geared to-
ward coastal cities, leaving
communities inland along
Highway 26 “way behind the
curve,” Mulder said.
“All those supplies, they
are going to fly it over us to the
coast, to the popular centers,”
Mulder said. “We feel low on
the priority list.”
While the fire station is
prepared with about 100 cots
and blankets as a Red Cross
shelter, unlike other towns
along Highway 101, the area
has limited access to food and
water. There are only a couple
of restaurants and one general
store that would be pillaged
quickly by 100 evacuees.
“If a tsunami really hap-
pened, who is going to feed
them for two or three days?
We can’t afford that much food
— it’s just not in the budget,”
Mulder said.
The volunteer fire de-
partment operates on about
$65,000 each year.
Proper education
Some issues could be ad-
dressed by continuing to edu-
cate more people about where
the inundation zone actually
ends, and how to find other safe
assembly areas already located
in coastal cities, emergency
trainer George Jette said.
Jette remembers respond-
ing to a vehicle rollover in
2011 where the driver aban-
doned his car, his credit cards
and other personal items on the
road.
“He just kept going on
foot. He was just so scared of
drowning,” he said. “I think
sometimes people think they
need to get to Portland.”
Because of their relative
isolation, both George and Di-
ane Jette said more cross-train-
ing with other emergency
teams in the county could help
them prepare more effectively.
Donations of nonperishable
food and water would also
make a difference.
Overall, Elsie is happy to
act as an emergency safe haven
the next time either a disaster
or disaster warning inevitably
happens. But before heading
up to the hills, the team has a
few requests.
“Remember that we are
here, if you need to come up,”
Diane Jette said. “But also,
when people come up, re-
member we need aid to help
take care of them. Don’t fly
over the top of us and drop
packages just in Hillsboro and
Seaside.”
CANNON BEACH POLICE LOG
May 11
May 13
unable to locate.
unable to locate.
10:15 a.m., 1100 block Spruce Court:
Caller reports an argumentative re-
action from a neighbor she chastised
for feeding raccoons on her porch.
No further action taken; caller just
wanted the exchange reported.
1:34 a.m., Second Avenue and
Skate Park: Subjects are warned of
camping.
8:01 p.m., 900 block Ocean: A person
sleeping in the grass is offered med-
ical attention and a courtesy ride.
Both offers were declined.
3:30 p.m., Pacific and Siuslaw: A
found bracelet is turned in to the
police for safekeeping.
10:34 p.m., 2100 block Pacific: Call-
er reports suspicious activity; police
determine it is contractors working.
May 12
2:30 p.m., Downtown: A found wallet
is turned in and returned to its owner.
4:08 p.m. Beach and Haystack Rock:
A found cell phone is reunited with
its owner.
6:39 p.m. Elk Creek Road: The owner
of a dog reported to be behaving
in an aggressive manner tells po-
lice they will put the dog inside the
house.
9:55 a.m., 200 block N. Spruce: A per-
son who fell is reported and helped.
12:43 p.m., Tolovana Wayside: Sus-
picious behavior is reported.
3:07 p.m., Highway 101, MP 33: A
barefoot subject reported jumping
into traffic tells police they left their
shoes at Silver Point to walk on the
beach. The person declined a cour-
tesy ride to return to their shoes. No
further action was taken.
4:15 p.m., Ocean Avenue and W.
Adam: Caller reports visitors to the
area are breaking all the parking rules
in her neighborhood.
7:28 p.m., Tolovana Beach: A new-
born sea lion is reported; officers are
9:59 p.m., 100 block S. Hemlock: A
person asking for food and a place to
stay is offered a courtesy ride, which
was accepted. Police say there is a
possible mental health issue.
May 14
12:20 a.m., 100 block W. Madison:
Subject is warned for overnight
camping.
10:32 p.m., E. Second Street: Sub-
jects are warned of overnight camp-
ing and switching license plates.
11:37 p.m., E. Second Street: A per-
son is warned for overnight camping;
the person says they are a resident,
not a visitor or transient, and that
they are not camping.
May 16
2:26 p.m., 100 block E. Jefferson:
Caller complains of a subject’s ver-
bal abuse of residents and visitors.
3:44 p.m., Seaside High School:
Cannon Beach police assist Seaside
police at the high school.
May 15
May 18
9:57 a.m., Chapman Point: Caller
reports a vehicle casing a job site.
Officers searching the area were
4:26 a.m., Second Street parking lot:
Subjects are warned of overnight
camping.
11:19 p.m., Second Street rest room:
Subjects are warned of overnight
camping.
11:27 p.m., Second Street sewer
ponds: Subjects are warned of
overnight camping.
May 19
1:36 p.m., 1200 block S. Hemlock:
Subject cited for careless driving.
7:57 p.m. Beach: A lost cell phone
is returned to its owner.
10:09 p.m., Second Street restroom:
Subjects are warned for overnight
camping.
May 20
12:36 a.m., 3700 block Pacific: Police
respond to a report of an unwanted
female at the residence. Subject had
left prior to police arrival; police made
contact with her by phone and told
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2:05 a.m., 800 block S. Roosevelt:
Cannon Beach police assist Seaside
police with a traffic stop of a suspi-
cious vehicle.
5:56 a.m., 600 block N. Ash: A subject is
arrested for harassment and menacing
during a domestic incident; subject is
transported to the Clatsop County jail.
11:31 a.m., Highway 26 and Highway
101: Police respond to a report of a
man with a rifle; the man tells police
he is hunting and had become lost. He
said he was walking back to his truck.
4:32 p.m., Haystack Rock: Police re-
spond to a report of a male dropping
his pants and exposing himself. Po-
lice make contact with the male who
denies the behavior. He was with a
group of male friends. They all had
their pants on.
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