Mar 23
2011
By Tamara Audi
CRESCENT CITY, Calif.—Somewhere under the murky waters of this city’s demolished harbor lay the remains of Marty Lopez’s fishing business.
“That boat kept me alive for 27 years,” said Mr. Lopez, gazing out at the harbor where his boat, the Nellie, sank in the March 11 tsunami. The Nellie, like many boats here, wasn’t insured.
Japan’s 9.0-magnitude earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed thousands and yielded an unfolding nuclear disaster. No one was hurt when the tsunami arrived in Crescent City, but the wave destroyed its harbor, threatening the economic future of the 157-year-old fishing village just south of Oregon.
Average Value of Commercial Seafood Landings 2000-2009 (Source: CA Dept. of Fish & Game)
“We’re fighting to survive,” said Richard Young, the harbor master, in an interview last week. He surveyed the damage to the small but vital fishing industry: Forty-seven boats—many of them part of the commercial fishing fleet of about 100 boats—were damaged, and 16 more were sunk.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Young told an official in another city where he had recently accepted a position as harbor master that he wouldn’t be taking the job. “Things are so bad here I just can’t leave,” he told the city official on the phone.
The harbor’s wooden docks are in pieces; chunks of broken concrete are pushed to the edges of the harbor. Masts and bows poke out of the water as divers work to map the underwater wreckage. Smashed boats are crushed against each other and the harbor wall.
Read the rest of the story at The Wall Street Journal.
Mar 12
2011
The Associated Press
Friday, March 11, 2011; 12:15 PM
MOCLIPS, Wash. — Active waves similar to any stormy day on the coast were the only sign that a tsunami had arrived in Washington.
The National Weather Service predicted the waves caused by an earthquake in Japan to reach 3 feet or more on the Washington coast Friday, but higher waves could come later.
About 60 people had evacuated to Grays Harbor Fire District No. 8 in Moclips. Volunteer firefighter Cathy Bisiack said a group of mostly elderly residents were enjoying a pancake breakfast and watching the news on TV when the waves started to hit.
Read the rest of the story here.
Mar 12
2011
March 11, 2011
Surges of water hit the tiny town of Fort Bragg, 200 miles south of Crescent City, witnesses say, ripping out docks and filling the water with debris, and closing off exits and entrances to the port.
Fort Bragg is an epicenter of California’s fishing community, and dozens of boats leave from there to fish crab, black cod and salmon.
“It’s pretty brutal,” said Charles D. Smith, a fisherman who owns a boat called the Miss Smith. “The ends of the docks are floating around all over the place.”
Smith got down to the harbor early in the morning and battened down his hatches. Other fishermen sailed to sea earlier Friday to escape damage in port. There won’t be anywhere for them to dock when they return, he said.
Read the rest of the story here.
Mar 11
2011
Times-Standard
Posted: 03/11/2011 10:03:13 AM PST
Officials in Crescent City are reporting damage after tsunami waves began hitting the harbor this morning.
“The harbor has been destroyed,” said Crescent City Councilman Rich Enea in a phone interview at 9:45 a.m. “Thirty-five boats have been crushed and the harbor has major damage. Major damage.”
Del Norte County Sheriff Cmdr. Bill Steven said most of the docks at the harbor are gone. Additionally, a recent surge filled the entire harbor and they are expecting that some of the other waves could send water into the harbor’s parking lot, Steven said.
Enea said no injuries have been reported at this point, which he attributed to plenty of tsunami preparedness exercises and the diligent work of first responders in sealing off the harbor.
The councilman said he’s heard about 100 people have shown up to a Red Cross shelter at Del Norte High School. He said tsunami waters have made it near the doors of the Crescent City Cultural Center, and he fears the worst is yet to come.
Read the rest here.
