A3 • Friday, February 22, 2019 | Cannon Beach Gazette | CannonBeachGazette.com
When vacationing, they have your
GO BAG READY!
By DAVE FISHER
For Cannon Beach Gazette
Go bags now among
the amenities guest can
expect at Ocean Inn
In what could be a fi rst on the Ore-
gon coast, a lodging facility in Manzanita
has equipped its guest rooms with emer-
gency go bags should the unthinkable hap-
pen, namely a devastating tsunami result-
ing from an earthquake along the Cascadia
Subduction Zone 70 miles offshore.
Because of its close proximity to the
beach, the Ocean Inn, located at the west-
ern end of Laneda Avenue in Manza-
nita, has been a favorite with tourists and
out-of-towners for a quarter century. The
10-room inn affords its guests with won-
derful views of the Pacifi c and is mere
footsteps away from Manzanita’s sandy
beaches. On the fl ip side, it has the dubious
distinction of being one of the fi rst struc-
tures along the beach to be virtually wiped
out by a wall of water when “the big one”
happens. Well aware of that reality, owners
Larry and Janice Zagata began thinking of
their social responsibility as hotel owners
to their guests and their safety.
“After attending an emergency pre-
paredness meeting a few years ago, I really
began thinking seriously about this,” Jan-
ice Zagata said. “There’s always that ele-
ment of surprise, natural disasters can hap-
pen at any time.”
The preparedness meeting referenced
by Zagata was one of many sponsored
by the Emergency Volunteer Corps of
Nehalem Bay the past 11 years. The emer-
gency volunteer corps came into being
shortly after the December 2007 storm
that struck the North Coast accompanied
by hurricane force winds that toppled trees
and power poles. Many areas were left
without electricity for a week or more sug-
gesting that a emergency response orga-
nization made up of volunteers to lend a
hand during natural disasters was a good
idea. Today, with upwards of 400 volun-
teers, the corps is the primary reason Man-
zanita, and its nearby neighbors Nehalem
and Wheeler, is considered the best pre-
pared community in the event of a major
earthquake and tsunami.
It was on a visit to Tonquin Trading in
TOP Ocean Inn three-day go bags
include emergency supplies for
two people.
LEFT Linda Cook, emergency
volunteer; Janice and Larry
Zagata, Ocean Inn owners; and
Jason Johnson, owner of Tonquin
Trading, review a video about
Ocean Inn’s emergency go bags.
Dave Fisher/For Cannon Beach Gazette
‘THE GO KIT IS
DESIGNED TO
GET YOU WHERE
YOU NEED TO GO
FOR ADDITIONAL
EMERGENCY
SUPPLIES AND
INSTRUCTION.’
Jason Johnson, Tonquin Trad-
ing owner and one-time North
Dakota oil fi elds safety trainer
Seaside the Zagatas took the next step in
offering its guests peace of mind in addi-
tion to a great view and easy beach access.
Open since 2016, the outdoor apparel store
on Broadway specializes in high-quality
backpacking, hiking and emergency pre-
paredness gear.
“I had popped into Jason’s store ini-
tially to check out emergency go bags for
our personal use,” said Larry Zagata. “But
we felt it had gotten to the point that we
needed to do something for our guests as
well. So, I reached out to Jason and he
helped develop an emergency kit to fi t our
needs.”
Over the course of the next couple of
months Tonquin Trading owner Jason
Johnson, a one-time North Dakota oil
fi elds safety trainer, came up with a tsu-
nami resiliency kit to fi t the needs of
Ocean Inn and its guests. Based on dou-
ble occupancy the two-person tsuna-
mi-resiliency kit, or go bag as it is com-
monly known, includes, at a cost of $70
each, emergency blankets, ponchos hand
warmers, water packets, 400-calorie food
bars, 12-hour light stick, and basic fi rst-
aid-kit. In addition, the Zagatas developed
an emergency information sheet with a
map of downtown Manzanita showing the
most direct evacuation route to the near-
est emergency assembly area, in this case
Underhill Plaza on Manzanita Avenue. In
the event of a Cascadia Subduction Zone
earthquake, one would have just 15 min-
utes following the end of the initial shak-
ing to reach higher ground before a tsu-
nami would inundate lower elevations.
“The go kit is designed to get you
where you need to go for additional emer-
gency supplies and instruction,” said John-
son. The supplies included address main-
taining one’s core temperature to avoid
hypothermia with ample water and basic
nutrition for a period of three days.
Emergency volunteer corps offi cials
hope this is only the beginning of a trend
that eventually stretches along the entire
length of Oregon’s coastline. EVCNB has
go bag classes where they sell, at cost,
items the participants would need for their
personal go bags.
“The go bag is the most critical item to
have, especially in the beginning when a
natural disaster occurs,” said EVCNB Go
Bag Coordinator Linda Cook. “A go bag
is an insurance policy. It’s better to be pre-
pared than scared.”
With go bags in each of their 10 guest
rooms and offi ces the Zagatas, who caught
on early to the corps’ emergency prepared-
ness message, are glad their guests can rest
a little easier.
“Natural disasters don’t wait until its
convenient or daylight happens,” Janice
Zagata said. “There’s always that element
of surprise, when you least expect and are
caught off guard.”
“I hope this is the beginning of a trend
because it’s the right thing to do,” her hus-
band added.
To learn more about the emergency vol-
unteer corps and emergency preparedness,
visit www.evcnb.org. For more informa-
tion about Tonquin Trading and its ser-
vices visit www.tonquintrading.com.
Opioid treatment center headed to Highway 101 location in Seaside
By R.J. MARX
Seaside Signal
A new clinic that will pro-
vide methadone to treat her-
oin and prescription opioid
addiction could open this
fall.
CODA, a Portland-based
drug treatment provider,
is negotiating a lease with
Terry Lowenberg for a for-
mer real estate offi ce on
South Holladay Drive off
U.S. Highway 101.
The clinic could treat
up to 300 people, said Tim
Hartnett, CODA’s executive
director. Along with metha-
done, people could receive
other federally approved
medication-assisted treat-
ment for drug abuse, such as
buprenorphine or naltrexone.
“We help people in the
deep end of the pool,” Hart-
nett said at a
City Coun-
cil
meet-
ing Monday
night. “We
help
peo-
ple who not
only have Tim Hartnett
drug
and
alcohol problems, but are
tangled up in poverty, tan-
gled up in the criminal jus-
tice system, the child wel-
fare system. We work with a
very complicated caseload.”
The Columbia Pacifi c
Coordinated Care Organi-
zation, which oversees the
Oregon Health Plan in Clat-
sop, Columbia and Tilla-
mook counties, has sought
a local methadone treatment
option because of the high
cost of paying for people
to get help in the Portland
metro area.
Andy Mendenhall, the
Seaside Signal
2367 South Holladay Drive, planned home to a CODA
treatment facility.
chief medical offi cer at Cen-
tral City Concern, which
works on homeless, pov-
erty and addiction issues in
Portland, said there is a lack
of treatment in rural areas.
Hospitalizations associated
with opioid abuse in the
three counties are well above
the statewide average.
“Part of the opportunity
presented by the CODA con-
tinuum here in the Seaside
community is to provide a
hub for patients to receive
treatment,” he said.
“I see an opportunity to
close the treatment gap, and
allow people to get treatment
locally, and that’s good for
those individuals, their fami-
lies and the community.”
When the prospect for
a methadone clinic on the
North Coast surfaced last
summer, city leaders in
Astoria and Warrenton rec-
ognized the need but were
cool to the idea of a location
in their cities.
The new clinic in Seaside
does not need approval from
the City Council, Mayor Jay
Barber said.
City Councilor Dana
Phillips said she is “proud
of CODA” and the work
they do. The provider has 40
years of experience in treat-
ing opioid abuse.
But some in the city are
concerned the clinic might
be unwelcome and add to
public safety needs.
Brian Owen, the execu-
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tive director of the Seaside
Chamber of Commerce, said
he anticipated “a lot of ques-
tions and misstatements and
information that is not read
completely through” from
people in the community.
Fire Chief Joey Dan-
iels asked if the clinic will
lead to an increase in call
loads. “We’re already lim-
ited in capabilities with our
resource and any call is a
taxing call already,” he said.
Seaside Police Lt. Bruce
Holt called CODA’s plan
“intriguing,” but sought
more information on how
law enforcement would
work with the clinic “to get
help for people we come
across.”
Hartnett said emergency
calls from the clinic would
be more than offset by fewer
drug overdoses and other
drug-related emergencies.
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