Friday, January 21, 2022 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A5
Tsunami: ‘This event further stresses
the need for upgrades to the system’
Continued from Page A1
(personnel) and law enforce-
ment actually went on to the
beach to inform people to
leave the beach. People were
mostly very cooperative.”
It was hard to distinguish
a potential tsunami of small
size from a typical surge of
a sneaker wave, Seaside City
Councilor Tom Horning, a
geologist, said.
“I stationed myself at the
south tip of Gearhart above
the mouth of the Necanicum
River,” Horning said.
Two minutes of surge, fol-
lowed by four minutes of ebb,
were typical from 8:30 to
9 a.m.
“At 9:01 a.m., a surge of
10 minutes followed by a
two-minute ebb followed by
another surge of six minutes
took place,” Horning said.
“Later surges were from three
to five minutes with five min-
utes of ebb until around 9:40
a.m, when we left. Possi-
bly the 9:01 a.m. surge could
have been a sneaker wave
with some tsunami momen-
tum. One part tsunami, 10
parts sneaker wave.”
High tide was around 8 feet
at 10:30 a.m., and from the
old high school parking lot,
it looked like it should have
under normal conditions.
“The tsunami, if it arrived,
was swamped by sneaker
waves, and the sneaker waves
were insignificant,” Horning
said.
At 11:45 a.m., the Seaside
emergency operations center
stood down.
The tsunami advisory was
canceled around 5 p.m. There
were no injuries or damage
reported.
“The event provided an
excellent rehearsal in prepa-
ration for the potential of a
much more serious event,”
Barber said.
Gearhart
Gearhart Fire Chief Josh
Como said he was notified
of the advisory by both Sea-
side’s fire chief and the dis-
patch center.
Lou Solitske
Seaside emergency personnel patrolling beach and advising people of a tsunami alert.
The Gearhart Fire Depart-
ment responded to the emer-
gency operations center at
Seaside dispatch. “At our sta-
tion, our firefighters set up
local emergency operations to
organize and deploy resources
throughout our city and fire
district, focusing on low-ly-
ing areas that would have the
best chances for impact from
surges of water,” he said.
Como called on-duty
Officer Josh Lair, Lt. James
Hutchinson and City Admin-
istrator Chad Sweet. After the
necessary personnel had been
notified, Como contacted
Mayor Paulina Cockrum so
she could communicate with
the Gearhart Community
Emergency Response Team.
The Clatsop County Sher-
iff’s Office blocked the Sunset
and Del Ray beach accesses.
Police Chief Jeff Bowman
monitored the 10th Street
access, Como said, and helped
Gearhart fire personnel patrol
the beach and low-lying areas.
“From what I saw, the
waves did not breach the first
base of the dune line,” Como
said. “The waves did push up
similar to a sneaker wave on
a high tide. I was not made
aware of any damage to our
community.”
Cockrum said she stayed
at the overlook near the Lit-
tle Beach parking lot and
took pictures of waves,
three of which she said were
abnormal.
“One of the unusual things
I noticed was a large amount
of trees that came out of the
base of Neacoxie Creek and
were starting to float into the
estuary,” Cockrum said.
Como said he was proud
of the response from all of the
agencies involved. “All par-
ties acted together to protect
our citizens and visitors from
harm,” he said.
Cannon Beach
Cannon Beach police
received an advisory just after
6:20 a.m. via Seaside dis-
patch. City Manager Bruce
St. Denis and department
heads were notified, including
police, fire and public works.
“We organized at City
Hall, opened up the emer-
gency operation center and
had a quick briefing and
started to deploy resources,”
Rick Hudson, the city’s emer-
gency manager, said.
Responders patrolled all
of the beach accesses, posted
warning signs and had a con-
tinuous patrol presence, Hud-
son said.
Wave heights were high-
est close to 9 a.m., Hudson
said. “We did not measure the
waves, but they represented
close to a low king tide level.
The tidal flow from this tsu-
nami was not far enough out
of the king/high tide level to
cause any new damage to the
city.”
The city’s emergency
sirens were put to the test and
led to an apology late Satur-
day from the Cannon Beach
Rural Fire Protection District.
“There were a few chal-
lenges with the system since
it has not been used as a city-
wide PA system in over 10
years,” Hudson said.
The siren system inadver-
tently activated an automatic
alarm while Hudson and his
crew were trying to use the
public address system to give
an audio address, Cannon
Beach City Councilor Nancy
McCarthy said.
“It wasn’t the COWS
(Community Warning Sys-
tem) message, it was an alarm
that, frankly, I hadn’t heard
before,” she said. “The last
time, someone delivered a
message asking people to
stay away from the beach
until noon. But the public did
respond to the alarm.”
According to a statement
from the fire district, the
emergency operations center
as a group decided to use the
siren system as a loudspeaker
to help clear people from the
beaches.
“During that attempt to use
the loudspeaker function, the
sirens were set off. This was
not the intention, and unfortu-
nately created confusion,” the
fire district stated.
“Cannon Beach fire dis-
trict would like to apologize
for this, and everyone know
that we are looking into why
this happened.
“There has been a dis-
cussion lately with the city
of Cannon Beach, regarding
upgrading the siren technol-
ogy and changing who man-
ages the sirens, as they are
currently managed by Can-
non Beach fire district,” they
wrote. “This event further
stresses the need for upgrades
to the system.”
Symphonic band
concert set for February
lude music from 1:30
to 1:55 p.m. while the
audience gathers. Regu-
The North Coast Sym- lar admission is $15 and
phonic Band continues its student admission is $8.
42nd season with a con- Advanced tickets can
cert titled “Dance Your be purchased at the Lib-
Cares Away” at 2 p.m. on erty Theatre Box Office
Sunday, Feb. 6, at the Lib- Wednesday through Sat-
urday from 2 to 5:30 p.m.
erty Theatre in Astoria.
Michael McClure from or online at www.liber-
tyastoria.showare.
Warrenton High
com. Tickets will
School will guest
also be available
conduct.
at the door starting
The music on
at noon the day of
Feb. 6 will be light,
the concert. The
fun and recogniz-
able. It may even
Liberty is located
inspire dancing in
on the corner of
Michael
12th and Commer-
the aisles. Several
cial Street in Asto-
McClure
pieces are band
ria. Check the Lib-
arrangements of
operatic works, including erty website for current
“Orpheus” and “Danse COVID requirements.
The North Coast Sym-
Bacchanale.”
“Russian
Sailor’s Dance” is from phonic Band offers local
the ballet genre. Con- musicians of all ages the
tinuing the dance theme, chance to network, learn
there are medleys, includ- from each other and main-
ing “Folk Songs from the tain their skill level in a
Southern Appalacians,” positive and supportive
“Abba on Broadway,” and environment. The band
more. There is even some rehearses on Monday eve-
jazz, with “Jitterbug,” nings in Astoria and musi-
and a surprise title of a cians interested in joining
more risque nature. Mas- should e-mail Personnel
ter of ceremonies for the Director Lee Stromquist
afternoon will be Brian at encore1@charter.net or
call 503-861-1328. Poten-
Bergman.
McClure has been tial new members should
leading
the
Warren- read music, own their
ton school bands for 12 own instruments and have
years. His approach to advanced high school
music education is a focus level performance skills
on excellence, building or higher. Rehearsals
strong bands through high are on Monday evenings
standards and humor in from 7 to 9 p.m. at the
the classroom. His bands Charlene Larsen Center
have placed first or sec- for the Performing Arts in
ond at the state level for Astoria.
For more information,
each year he has taught.
The Liberty doors visit www.northcoastsym-
email
will open at 1 p.m. The phonicband.org,
Astoria Jazz Combo will cablebri@charter.net or
perform concert pre- call 503-298-1087.
Seaside Signal
BIRTH
Jan. 14, 2022
BROWN, Kai Lynn (Davidson) and Matthew James,
a boy, Peyton Arthur Brown, born at Providence Seaside
Hospital. Older sister is Leia Brown. Grandparents are
Michelle Brown and Steve Estes, James and Hana Brown
and the late Arthur and Vicki Davidson. Great-grand-
mother is Jeannette Main.
NEWS NOTES
Community survey underway
The public can take part in an online com-
munity survey seeking input about the county
as a place to live, work and play. The survey
can be found at the Clatsop County website,
https://www.co.clatsop.or.us/county/page/
take-survey.
The survey, administered by the Polco
community engagement firm’s National
Research Center, is designed to help the Board
of Commissioners and staff in crafting long-
range goals to drive Clatsop County’s policy
and spending priorities.
Participants are asked to rate, from excel-
lent to poor, their feelings on Clatsop County
as a place to live, raise children, work, visit
and retire. Subjects range from the general
— overall quality of life — to employment
opportunities, housing options, traffic, and
availability of health care.
Respondents are also asked to rate various
services as well as overall confidence in Clat-
sop County government.
All responses are anonymous, although
participants are invited to enter their email
addresses in order to receive future communi-
cations and surveys from the county.
The open survey represents the second
phase of the project. The first phase was
launched in November with the mailing of
survey forms or postcards with online links to
a random sample of 3,200 county households.
The survey will be available to residents
through Jan. 26.
Sunset Empire Park
and Recreation District
Fascination Tournament
The Sunset Empire Park and Recreation
District will host a Fascination Tournament on
Wednesday, Feb. 23, 6 to 8 p.m., at Funland
Arcade in Seaside.
The annual Fascination Tournament is
a fundraiser for project phases at the Bob
Chisholm Community Center. The Commu-
nity Center Commission, a five-member advi-
sory group appointed by the Seaside City
Council, organizes this event each year.
This year’s tournament starts at 6 p.m. and
the team fee includes a salad bar, pizza and
a beverage. Beer and wine are available for
purchase that evening. This is a 21 and older
event; $100 for a team of four.
Register by visiting https://www.sunsetem-
pire.com/fascination-tournament, calling 503-
738-3311, ext. 100, or at the front desk of the
Sunset Pool or the Bob Chisholm Community
Center.
Plunge: ‘Our goal is to get to 100 plungers’
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of Commerce last Wednesday for a presen-
tation on the event.
“We are a worldwide global movement
that focuses on advancing inclusion and
awareness of children and adults with intel-
lectual disability through the joy of sport,”
Friesen said.
Although accredited through Special
Olympics North America, Special Olympics
Oregon is independent of the national orga-
nization. “We’re all local here in the state
office and oversee everything from programs,
coaches, athletes, everything across the states,
as well as all of our signature events.”
Each county has a local program coordi-
nator, coaches, trainers, coaches, recruits ath-
letes, hosts local trainings and competitions,
Friesen said. “We offer 14 Olympic-style
sports throughout the year. Typically, we
would do summer, fall and winter games that
have different sports from bowling, bocce ball.
Alpine skiing, swimming and aquatics.”
The polar plunge is the largest signature
event for Special Olympics Oregon, he said.
The event takes place at Coffenbury Lake
in Warrenton. In conjunction with Hood to
Coast, participants may opt to participate in
a 5K or 10K run with check-in at 9 a.m. The
plunge takes place at 11 a.m., with supervision
by the U.S. Coast Guard in a roped-off area.
More than 50 people have signed up so far.
“Our goal is to get to 100 plungers this
year,” Friesen said. “We are optimistic that we
can surpass that goal.”
It is “horrible at times,” he acknowledged.
“We do it because it raises money and aware-
ness for athletes. That’s the ‘challenge’ piece
of it.”
If you don’t want to plunge yourself, there
are other options, Kuther said. “You can latch
on to someone who is actually going to plunge
and advocate through them. You can still feel
like you’re a part of the event and not have to
jump in.”
With the “hibernate” option, you can
donate $50 and sleep in if you don’t want to
plunge, Friesen added.
For more information or to sign up,
visit
https://soor.org/fundraising-events/
polar-plunge-2022/.
New cardiologist at
Columbia Memorial Hospital
ASTORIA — Columbia Memorial Hos-
pital has announced that Dr. Bassel Beit-
injaneh will join the CMH-OHSU Health
Cardiology Clinic.
Beitinjaneh began working as a part-
time cardiologist last week.
He earned his medical and undergradu-
ate degrees from the University of Damas-
cus in Syria.
Beitinjaneh completed three fellowships
through Oregon Health & Science Univer-
sity in Portland, focusing on heart failure,
heart transplants, cardiovascular disease
and clinical electrophysiology medicine.
He also completed a residency focused on
internal medicine at Saint Louis University
in St. Louis, Missouri.
He most recently worked at OHSU and
Mid-Columbia Medical Center. At OHSU,
he worked as an assistant professor and
clinical electrophysiologist. He worked in
clinical electrophysiology medicine and as
a medical director at Mid-Columbia Med-
ical Center.
He has also worked as a hospitalist at a
Portland veterans hospital and Washington
University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St.
Louis, Missouri.
Beitinjaneh is a member of the American
College of Cardiology and the American
Heart Rhythm Society. He is board-certi-
fied by the National Board of Echocardiog-
raphy. He is also certified in internal med-
icine, cardiovascular medicine and clinical
electrophysiology.
His work has been recognized by
many publications and organizations,
including the American Society of
Echocardiography.
Fundraiser yields
more than $6,200
On Jan. 8, local restaurant Thai
Me Up partnered with Seaside High
School and the Sunset Empire Park and
Recreation District for a fundraiser. Thai
Me Up donated 100% of their sales at
both the Astoria and Seaside restaurant
locations amounting to over $6,200 to
the Seaside High School Swim Team for
the purchase of a timing system for swim
meets and new diving blocks for the Sun-
set Pool.