TSUNAMI STUFF

In early March, the City of Cannon Beach, in cooperation with several state agencies, hosted a tsunami forum at the Surfsand ballroom which dealt with post-tsunami recovery issues. The forum was attended by about 40 people representing not only the city but also the business community, public utilities, state and federal government agencies, emergency management professionals, health care facilities, private property owners, the news media, education and the clergy as well.

Forum participants were asked to identify post-disaster recovery issues within 4 different categories - POPULATION (includes residents, tourists, employees and special populations), the ECONOMY (includes impact on businesses, employment, the tax base and tourism), INFRASTRUCTURE (public and private utilities, shelters, transportation and communication - the essentials to keeping the community running) and REDEVELOPMENT (issues related to land use, zoning, housing and building codes for example).

The results of the forum will be published later in the spring whereupon more discussion will take place involving how to implement post-tsunami recovery plans. Of course, we all hope that we won't have to worry about recovery issues. However, the early March get-together at least gave us all much to think about as far as being more prepared for the aftermath.

On a related issue, you may want to mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 12th at 7:00 pm. That evening, at the Coaster Theatre, a community meeting has been scheduled to discuss tsunami preparedness. Dr George Priest of the Oregon Department of Geology & Mineral Industries will lead off the program with a technical (but not too technical, I promise) analysis of the Cascadia zone fault and the type and size of wave a significant earthquake could generate. Dr Priest is one of the leading authorities in the Pacific Northwest on this subject and he will address, among other things, the recent TV special on the Discovery Channel which created so much local discussion. Other presentations will include our evacuation plan, our infrastructure situation and a Q & A session.