Storm Chronicles: Community voices, community forum

By CATE GABLE
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Reprinted from the Chinook Observer

The wind seems unusually strong but you finish packing the trunk and check-out of your hotel, belatedly discovering you're in the middle of what will be known as the "Coastal Gale of '07." And, by the way, all the roads off the Peninsula are blocked by downed trees.

Now what?

You head for the visitor's center, of course, hoping for a little information. But even Una Boyle, executive director of the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau, the visitor's information hub on the Peninsula, was having trouble on that score. In those days after the storm, she sat in her car every half hour listening to the radio. Or she would drive out to the police department or the local fire station to find out what was going on.

Many offices were simply closed.

Boyle shares, "We have ambient heating in our floor at the bureau which fortunately kept our building warm for 40 hours. But there wasn't much I could tell our visitors with no phones, no internet, and no power. Most of them checked back into their hotels if they could."

When she left the bureau searching for information, she fell into the time-honored tradition - leave a note on your door. Boyle notes, "I made sure to leave the radio call letters for people to check and the time when I would return."

Ken Karch, general manager of the Surfside Home Owners Association, resorted to low-tech communications as well. On the door of the Surfside office, Karch posted a note with updates gathered from radio broadcasts.

On Tuesday morning, Karch decided to go out for gas - he had several neighbors' empty gas cans in the back of his hybrid SUV. He figured he'd gas-up on the south end of the peninsula. But there were no pumps working in Ilwaco.

Well, surely they'd have gas in South Bend. Nope. On to Raymond, but again, no gas. OK, then - Aberdeen is a large city. But his heart dropped when he came up over the bridge to see not one light on in town.

Finally, after several detours, he found one small station open in Montesano with twenty cars in line. Good thing he had a fuel-efficient vehicle.

But if he had known, he might have tried the Shell Station in Seaview or found out that Jack's Country Store was hand-pumping gas for customers beginning on Tuesday afternoon.

Even if the right things were happening in some places on the peninsula, it was nearly impossible to find out what or where.

Which brings us back to the themes so often heard as we continue to share our storm stories with one another: communication, responsibility and resilience.

The folks who were best prepared to weather the storm and its after-effects were those who either have good neighborhood communications or were prepared, as recommended, to be self-sustaining for three to seven days.

Jeanne Ellevold, who has lived on the Peninsula for 15 years on a private lane on the ocean side, says, "We have a Committee of Two on our street. Sandy Thanes is a young go-getter who keeps track of the folks who have email. And, me, I have the phone list or I walk around to make sure everyone in our neighborhood is OK."

Ellevold goes on, "I think it's great the way we handled the storm. It's so important for people to be able to look out for themselves and for each other, whether it's a tsunami, an earthquake, or a power outage."

"After the storm, our Committee of Two toured the neighborhood to see what was needed. Some neighbors had trees down on their homes and some had their driveways blocked by trees."

Karch reiterates the same theme. Although there are 2,838 lots in Surfside, there are only 1,976 official members of the association. Of these, about half are 'part-timers;" but which "part" of the time will they be on the Peninsula?

Karch encourages everyone to be involved in community planning, because everyone has a stake here, whether you are a visitor, a resident, or a part-timer.

Several years ago, Surfside undertook a process called "Future Search," which brings a community together to discuss what it wants to be, how it will manage itself, and what its goals are. As part of this process, a Surfside Tsunami Committee was formed to consider how Surfside would respond when the Big Wave hits. (Ocean Park Fire Chief Jacob Brundage, a Surfside resident, is a member of this committee.)

They figured out the best routes for folks who would need to cross the canal to get out; and they sent out a survey to Surfsiders on the ridge to find out if they would be willing to house the ocean-front lowlanders if needed. Everyone said "Yes!"

Because of the preparations made, Surfside was able to keep their water system up and running throughout the power outage; they had trucks full of gas; and chain saws ready for action.

The one thing they didn't have and realized that they needed was more robust communications with other parts of the Peninsula, like a ham radio station for instance. This is in the works now.

Ellevold too hasn't stopped at the boundaries of her private lane with her generosity. Not only was she involved in the meetings that created the Peninsula Senior Activities Center, she has volunteered there for seven years.

Ellevold is excited about the peninsula community gathering which will take place this Saturday at the Ocean Park Elementary School. This day provides us all with time to talk-story and, in the tradition of communities everywhere, exchange ideas about how to make where we live a better place.

Ellevold has rounded up the seniors to make salads and sandwiches for the old-fashioned potluck lunch at the gathering, and they have also baked ten dozen mini-muffins and cookies for the all-day coffee table. (She was on her way to pick up coffee donated by Bob and Marietta's Long Beach Coffee Roasters.)

Boyle too is 100 percent behind the gathering organized by Nanci Main, community lynchpin (as Matt Winters, Chinook Observer Editor, characterized her in an "After Deadline" radio interview). Main is committed to the Peninsula and its people and has been for over 30 years.

The Eye of the Storm Community Forum will include the staples of all community gatherings: food, local talent; a slide show of storm images by photographer Damian Mulinix; storm stories from our peninsula youth; and time for us to talk to each other and collaborate on the convening question: "How can we as a community support emergency action planning and create networks that will serve the well-being of us all?"

Main has garnered support from all corners of our diverse community: from businesses and non-profits, individuals and organizations, service clubs and county officials.

As Boyle puts it, "I'm enthusiastic about doing whatever we can to support these efforts. We all need to be part of the solution."

This is an all-volunteer event. Do your part! If you would like to help, please email Nanci Main at (nanci@willapabay.org) or call her at 360-665-5340.