A local tsunami surge about six feet high, triggered by the 9.0 magnitude earthquake off of Japan that created a catastrophe, severely damaging the nuclear plants there, hit the coast of San Luis Obispo County at about 8:15 a.m. on Friday, March 11. The Morro Bay harbor got the worst of it—but a great deal less than it might have been because the ocean swell came at low tide.
Had it arrived at a high tide, which occurred six hours earlier, the tsunami would have caused a swell of 12 to 13 feet, which would probably have been "devastating" to the Morro Bay Harbor and probably other coastal areas, said Dean Wendt, director of the San Luis Obispo Science and Ecosystem Alliance (SLOSEA) at Cal Poly's Center for Coastal Marine Sciences.
As it was, the Morro Bay harbor suffered about $455,000 in damage, based on early estimates, and most of that was to public docks and slips, which officials said is likely to be reimbursed—at least partly with state and federal disaster funds. But not private damage, which included one sunken boat and another damaged (see chart below).
Beaches along the local coast were closed to incoming traffic, and people already there were asked to leave. In Morro Bay, roads leading to beaches, the harbor and the Embarcadero were closed to entering traffic, except for commercial fishermen, Embarcadero business owners, and delivery truck drivers, who were allowed access at their own risk, Morro Bay fire chief Mike Pond said.
Main Street south of the Olive Street and Beachcomber in the Beach Tract also were closed to incoming traffic for a period of time.
Ron Alsop, county Emergency Services manager, reported coastal areas outside of Morro Bay that were evacuated on an advisory basis were:
—In Cayucos, the areas west of Ocean Avenue from Old Creek Road to Lucerne Street.
—In Cambria, Leffingwell Landing, Moonstone Beach Drive, the Boardwalk, Shamel Park including residences on Windsor Boulevard, Park Hill and the West Ranch from Coasal Marine Terrace Trail to the coast,, Main Street from Highway 1 to Santa Rosa Creek Road and including Coast Union High School, Burton Drive and side streets between Main Street to Village Lane, Marine Terrace between Marlborough and the ocean to Ardath, including Lampton Cliffs County Park.
—Port San Luis and immediate surrounding areas.
—The downtown Avila Beach area.
—Pismo Coast Village in Pismo Beach.
—In Oceano, all areas west of Highway 1 from Grand Avenue south to 24th Street.
—In Grover Beach, the area west of Highway 1between Grand Avenue and La Sage Mobile Home Park.
Baywood-Los Osos was not expected to be impacted and therefore none of its areas was evacuated, Alsop said.
The county Emergency Alert System broadcast tsunami warnings over local radio and television stations on March 11.
No significant damage was reported outside of Morro Bay, Alsop said. And there were no reports of injuries, deaths, or crime during the emergency, which lasted until mid-afternoon.
Morro Bay received the initial alert about the approaching tsunami from the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center, which issued a tsunami advisory around midnight and then upgraded it to a tsunami warning, the highest level of emergency, 44 minutes later. The forecast was for a four-to-seven foot tsunami arriving in the Morro Bay area by 8:30 a.m. on Friday.
The city activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) under its Multi-Hazard Emergency Response Plan and linked up with the county EOC, which coordinated responses for the county's unincorporated coastal area.
The city staff, including the police, fire, and harbor departments, along with the Coast Guard and state parks, gathered at 2 a.m. at the police department, Pond said.
An Initial Action Plan was instituted, he said, and fully activated at 3:30 a.m. which included:
—Placement of barricades and "Tsunami Warning" signs at all most beach access points.
—Harbor Patrol to notify live-aboards and contact harbor businesses.
—An alert that a four-to-seven foot tsunami was expected.
—Department heads and city employees were recalled to their offices around 3:30 a.m.
—A decision to evacuate areas below 15 feet in elevation, including Morro Bay High School, Morro Dune RV Park, the Embarcadero and the State Park Marina.
—The evacuation plan was implemented by the police and harbor departments.
—A shelter was set up at the Vets Hall.
(See Tsunami Evacuation Map)
Approximately 20 vessels elected to go off shore to the 100-fathom area to avoid the tsunami surge in the estuary. Coast Guard vessels and one of the Harbor Patrol vessels also left the harbor so they would have operational vessels ready to respond, but out of the area of impact to avoid damage to the vessels, Eric Endersby, harbor operations manager, said.
In the county areas, Alsop said, an estimated 250 employees from agencies such as local police and fire departments, Port San Luis, the county sheriff's office, Caltrans, and state parks responded in the field. For example, fire departments had ocean and other water rescue equipment and extra staff on duty, Caltrans was deploying changeable message signs to inform motorists, sheriff's deputies in some areas were going into neighborhoods on foot to notify people door-to-door and some closed roads to evacuated areas.
The Avila Beach closure was handled by four highway patrol officers, three to staff road-closed fixed locations and one officer roving Avila Beach area to help warn people, Alsop said. A highway patrol airplane monitored beaches to make sure they were clear, and a highway patrol helicopter was available to provide assistance where needed.
In addition, Red Cross volunteers staffed six evacuation shelters, California State Parks' staff also evacuated campgrounds from Cambria to San Simeon and the sheriff's dive team was placed on standby. Alsop said that cities, the county, and special districts whose facilities sustained damage from the tsunami will probably be eligible for reimbursement from the state and federal governments for some direct material or support costs and for overtime of employees incurred during the emergency.
The reason these costs will likely be reimbursed "is because the city of Morro Bay proclaimed a local emergency and requested that the governor declare a State of Emergency for Morro Bay," Alsop said. "Due to that request, the California Emergency Management Agency recommended to Governor Brown that the entire county be declared (as having had a State of Emergency), and Governor Brown did declare a State of Emergency for the entire county."
Morro Bay Harbor Damage Estimates
Location |
Description |
Cost Estimate |
| Slip 19-20 (public) |
Dock destroyed |
60,000.00 |
| Slip 5-6 (public) |
Pile damage |
10,000.00 |
| State Park Marina |
Kayak Float destroyed |
50,000.00 |
| State Park Marina |
Finger 1-7 /Dock damage |
150,000.00 |
| State Park Marina |
Sunken Vessel CF0762 CB |
30,000.00 |
| LS 124W-128W (private lease) |
Pile/dock damage |
95,000.00 |
| Blue Horizon (private) |
F/V Blue Horizon damaged |
10,000.00 |
| Other Vessels (private) |
Miscellaneous vessel damages |
50,000.00 |
| |
|
|
| Total Estimated Damage Costs |
|
455,000.00 |
