SEASIDESIGNAL.COM • COMPLIMENTARY COPY
OUR 110th YEAR • August 19, 2016
New fl ood maps needed to avoid sanctions
Communities benefi t overall
from latest mapping data
By Erick Bengel
EO Media Group
Residents in Gearhart, Seaside,
Cannon Beach, Clatsop County and
those in Warrenton’s Diking District
No. 1 will be unable to buy fl ood in-
surance, renew existing fl ood insur-
ance policies and will face additional
consequences unless their jurisdiction
adopts new federal fl ood insurance
rate maps.
The urgent message resonated at
an open house Monday at the Seaside
Civic and Convention Center, where
locals looked over draft revisions to
the Federal Emergency Management
Agency’s maps that identify fl ood risk
along the coast .
Adoption of the maps — which
will be used to set fl ood insurance
rates and shape community develop-
ment decisions — will involve new
fl ood hazard ordinances.
“It’s pretty dire if the cities and
county are unable to move forward
with the adoption of these ordinanc-
es,” said Patrick Wingard, regional
representative for the Oregon De-
partment of Land Conservation and
Development.
A community that fails to adopt
the maps will be suspended from the
National Flood Insurance Program
and face a host of sanctions.
Not only will residents be ineligi-
ble for fl ood insurance, the communi-
ty will not qualify for federal grants or
loans for development in fl ood hazard
areas, or for federal disaster assis-
tance to repair insurable fl ood-dam-
aged buildings in those areas.
“If you are suspended from the
National Flood Insurance Program,
that affects folks’ ability to get mort-
gages; it affects the business climate,
the local economy and the regional
economy,” Wingard said.
Happy results
The communities will mostly
benefi t from the mapping updates,
which are the result of a countywide
study that began in 2009 and incor-
porate the latest topographic tech-
nology.
The bottom line: Far more land
was removed from the 100-year
fl ood plain, which has a 1 percent
chance of fl ooding in any given year
and a 26 percent chance of fl ooding
during the life of a 30-year mort-
gage, according to Heather Hansen,
the county’s fl ood plain manager.
See Maps, Page 6A
Joey Burda, Katie Dyk, Katie Nicholls and
Josh Sweigert came from far and wide for
Seaside volleyball.
PHOTO COURTESY UNIVERSAL PICTURES
Kevin Hart, left, as Ben Barber and Ice Cube as
James Payton in a scene from the fi lm, “Ride
Along 2.” Hart plans to run in the Hood to Coast
Relay.
IT’S NO JOKE…
Comedian Kevin
Hart will run
Hood to Coast
R.J. MARX/SEASIDE SIGNAL
By Katherine Lacaze
For Seaside Signal
PAID
PERMIT NO. 97
ASTORIA, OR
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
Comedian Kevin Hart may be one of the most
well-known individuals running in the 2016 Hood
to Coast Relay, but just as in years past, the event
— along with the concurrent Portland to Coast
Walk and High School Challenge — promises to
bring 18,000 competitors to Seaside next weekend.
For the past 18 years, the nearly 200-mile over-
night race reached capacity, or 1,050 12-person
teams, on the opening day of registration. This year
was no different, according to Dan Floyd, chief op-
erating offi cer for the Hood to Coast Race Series.
Competitors from each state and more than 35
countries are registered to participate in the events,
which begin Aug. 26 at Timberline Lodge on
Mount Hood for Hood to Coast runners and down-
town Portland for walkers and high school teams.
All three events conclude with a grandiose Finish
Line Party in Seaside on Aug. 27.
Nike’s team this year includes running advo-
cate, producer and performer Hart, along with 11
other celebrities. Hart announced his participation
in a video uploaded on his YouTube channel and
posted to his Facebook page in early August.
During the video, the comedian jokes about tak-
ing on “the toughest, most craziest 10K,” only to be
told it is actually a nearly 200-mile race that starts
on Mount Hood, offi cially characterized by the
U.S. Geological Survey as a “potentially active”
volcano. He responds, “198 miles? By myself?”
It’s a relay race, the reporters reassure him.
“You got to get fi t,” Hart concludes. “You
never know when a surprise 198-mile-potential-
ly-life-threatening-active-volcano relay race is going
to sneak up on you. This is one of those moments.”
Floyd confi rmed Hart’s participation “is defi -
nitely happening.”
“We don’t know which leg he’s running, and we
do know he’s planning to make it to Seaside,” he said.
Hart will have his own security personnel, but
organizers also will provide Hart and his team
“luxuries that other teams don’t get that will make
it a lot easier for them to make sure he is safe,”
Floyd said.
HAVING A BALL
Seaside is the star of volleyball tournament
By R.J. Marx
Seaside Signal
S
easide’s biggest party was in full
swing over the weekend , with
spectacular weather and a beach
full of volleyball players and fans.
With the Summer Olympics in Brazil
airing the world’s best athletes every
night, the competitors in this year’s am-
ateur tournament received added inspira-
tion.
“Gosh, to me it actually boosts up the
morale and that excitement of playing,”
said co-organizer PT Thilavanh. “The
players are watching the Olympics after
they’re done and then they’re anxious to
play even more.”
See Volleyball, Page 10A
JEFF TER HAR/FOR SEASIDE SIGNAL
Ice bucket challenge, or just cooling off ? This volleyball com-
petitor enjoys a splashdown.
A promise made, a promise kept
Angels for Sara off ers sanctuary for senior dogs
By Eve Marx
For Seaside Signal
Jacque Pressly got the idea to start
Angels For Sara, a sanctuary for se-
nior dogs, while working for the Clat-
sop County Public Works Department.
“I cleaned the Clatsop County Ani-
mal Shelter a couple of times a week in
the evening,” she said. “There was an
old Rottweiler there named ‘Sara.’ She
came to the shelter because her owner
had passed away and the family didn’t
want her. She spent most of her time in
the lobby or one of the offi ces.”
When Pressly arrived for work,
Sara followed her around. “One eve-
ning I arrived and she wasn’t there,”
Pressly said. “I was so excited because
I thought she fi nally got her forever
home.” She soon learned Sara had
been euthanized because her health
was in such decline.
“My heart broke,” Pressly said.
“If I had only known, I would have
taken her home with me to keep her
comfortable and loved instead of her
having to live out her days in a cold
shelter with no one to love her.”
Pressly said she cried all that night
as she worked. “When I went outside to
take out the garbage, I saw it was a beau-
tiful night and the stars were so bright.
I looked up at them and made Sara a
promise that some way, some how, I
was not going to let this happen again.”
Pressly is a big believer that things
happen for a reason. A few days after
learning of Sara’s death, her friend
Jackie Beerger, a Cannon Beach resi-
dent who worked as a volunteer at the
Clatsop County shelter, came to her
with an offer to rent an 89-acre proper-
ty with a mobile home. Pressly immedi-
ately thought it would be a good place
to have a senior dog sanctuary and be-
gan doing the necessary paperwork.
‘Bonnie and Clyde’
In 2013 Angels for Sara became
a non profi t corporation. “In January
2014 I moved on to the property,”
Pressly said. “And in June 2014 our
fi rst senior dogs, Bonnie and Clyde,
came to live there.”
Angels For Sara is a small group
providing quality care to senior dogs
that have been abandoned to shelters.
Made up of a dedicated team of vol-
unteers, sponsors, and veterinarians,
Angels for Sara is funded by grants,
sponsorship and donations. The sanctu-
ary offers hospice care to dogs and pro-
motes awareness regarding long-term
See Dogs, Page 8A
SUBMITTED P HOTO
Bailey the cocker spaniel, 13, is look-
ing for a good home.