Politics & Government
Half Moon Bay and County Demobilize Emergency Response, But Beaches Closed Until Saturday Morning
The decision to demobilize emergency services was made by city officials after the San Mateo County's Office of Emergency Services response team's conference call informed them of the downgrade from a warning to an advisory.
Half Moon Bay and Coastside agencies are demobilizing their emergency response efforts to today's tsunami after the county's Office of Emergency Services met with the team of local and regional agencies at 4 p.m. today.
However, San Mateo County beaches will be closed until Saturday morning, according to Ken Lord, Cal Fire Captain. "We’re still telling people to use caution and stay away from the beaches...there‘s still potential for dangerous currents and waves," Lord said.
The decision to wrap up emergency efforts stemmed from the National Weather Service's downgrade of a tsunami warning to an advisory issued at 3 p.m. this afternoon.
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San Mateo County's Office of Emergency Services announced return to "normal protocol" at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon.
The evacuation center at Half Moon Bay High School and the emergency operation centers at the Half Moon Bay Fire Department and Police Department began to demobilize their efforts in the last hour, according to Ken Lord, Cal Fire Captain. The evacuation center at Farallone View Elementary School in Montara also closed earlier this afternoon, and the Pescadero evacuation center was already closed by the time of the announcement to return to normal protocol.
Find out what's happening in Half Moon Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Half Moon Bay City Hall has also closed, and will not be open until Monday morning, according to Fraser.
City staff were called at 2 a.m. to respond to the emergency effort, Fraser said, to help mobilize command centers.
Earlier today, Mayor Naomi Patridge estimated that the city had spent approximately $15,000 on efforts to respond to the tsunami warning.
The city of Half Moon Bay declared a state of emergency -- "sometime between 1:30 and 4 p.m.," Fraser said. "We also asked the county to declare a state of emergency."
The city's declaration was "a proclamation of the existence of a local emergency by the City Manager [Laura Snideman] of the city of Half Moon Bay," Fraser said.
Patridge said that a declaration of emergency was needed in order for the city to be eligible to file a reimbursement claim for expenses incurred by the response effort.
Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency for San Mateo County earlier this afternoon, in addition to Santa Cruz, Del Norte and Humboldt counties.
Fraser said that as of this afternoon, the city had not been informed of any deaths or property damage on the San Mateo County coastline, including Pillar Point Harbor, where Harbormaster Robert Johnson said the only damage known was an abalone farm that had broken loose from its moorings.
The city of Santa Cruz sustained damage to its harbor, while in Crescent City, even more serious damage took place along its docks and to its boats.
The tsunami was triggered by an 8.9-magnitude earthquake that hit off the northeast coast of Japan on Thursday night.
Despite closure of emergency operation center and shelters, Fraser said that she believed that Brian Molder of San Mateo County's Office of Emergency Services is on call throughout the weekend.
If residents need to contact authorities for help, they can contact the Half Moon Bay Police Department and visit www.211.org for agency contact information.
