Special Pull-Out Section
ADVOCATING FOR SENIORS Vashon HouseHold expands its services for the elderly. Page 5
How can we best prepare for a disaster? VashonBePrepared, Puget Sound Energy and Vashon Island Fire & Rescue offer several helpful tips.
BEACHCOMBER Pages 13 to 16
VASHON-MAURY ISLAND
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2012
Vol. 57, No. 51
www.vashonbeachcomber.com
Big tides, mighty winds create a perfect storm King tides are garnering attention, causing damage By NATALIE JOHNSON Staff Writer
Many on Vashon are familiar with king tides, those extreme high-water marks that occur during daylight hours a few times each winter. The extra-high water — caused when the moon and sun are in alignment — often turns heads as it puddles in waterfront yards or creeps over low roads before retreating back into the Sound. But earlier this week, a king tide combined with high winds and low barometric pressure made for one of the most tempestuous mornings those on the waterfront can remember. As Monday morning’s predicted 13-foot tide rose even higher and was bolstered by strong winds, seawater bashed docks and bulkheads, closed roads and swept away boats and dinghies all around Vashon. “I’m virtually sure this is a record height,” said Bruce Morser, a longtime Islander who bundled up and came out with a couple of friends Monday morning to survey Quartermaster Drive, which was inundated by 8 a.m. It’s hardly the first time the road has flooded, Islanders said, but it was one of the first times it was completely closed to traffic. As the waters rose, a green dinghy floated into the street and a sailboat that broke loose in the storm floated dangerously close to a waterfront home. Several emergency vehicles with lights flashing waited nearby, ready to respond should the situation worsen. Down the road, Kevin Pottinger, who lives near Portage, waded in rubber boots SEE KING TIDES, 17
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Homeless camp near town prompts concern
By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer
serious effort to ensure this relatively isolated, ferry-dependent community could take care of itself in a major disaster. And it’s been six years since the Island got a taste of how a weather-related disaster might play out on Vashon — the December 2006 windstorm that brought down scores of trees, darkened the entire Island for days and left some Islanders without power for two weeks.
Local law officials and community leaders are expressing concern about a new camp that has sprung up in a vacant lot just south of Vashon town, where a handful of people are living in squalid conditions and in makeshift shelters. Police have responded to the scene several times because of reports of illicit activities, said King County Sheriff’s Dep. Joel Anderson, who works the evening shift on Vashon. He believes six to seven people are living there. “It popped up as a place for the drug-using population maybe two or three months ago,” Anderson said. “It’s a bad scene.” Neighbors have also expressed concern, including members of the Vashon Methodist Church; the church’s playground is nearly directly across the road from the camp. “We’ve suspected drug use and drug dealing, and we’ve called the police when we’ve seen something suspicious,” said Rev. Kathryn Morse. “If the church is open, we’re happy for anyone to use our restrooms and for the church to be of service in the community,” she added. “But we also have a safe-sanctuary policy, which means people should feel safe here.” Advocates for the homeless, meanwhile, are quick to
SEE PREPAREDNESS, 19
SEE CAMP, 26
Leslie Brown/top and lower left photos; Natalie Johnson/lower right photo
Top, Kevin Pottinger and his son Alec look at the high tide in front of their home on Quartermaster Drive. Left, the yard surrounding a house at Portage is inundated by water. Right, Sue Weston and John Montecucco survey damage at Sylvan Beach.
The weakest link in preparedness? You and me By LESLIE BROWN Staff Writer
Whenever weather reports indicate a major storm is headed this way, Michael Cochrane says he sees a phenomenon that troubles him greatly — scores of Islanders flocking to stores to buy candles, batteries, canned food and other emergency supplies. That tells Cochrane, a leading figure in Vashon’s emergency preparedness community, that many residents are not ready for what he believes is
inevitable — a disaster that hits without warning. “How do I know we’re not prepared? Every time there’s portent of a big storm, people are buying supplies at the 11th hour and 59th minute,” Cochrane said. That lack of individual readiness, he added, “is our biggest area of vulnerability.” It’s been a little more than a decade since Islanders interested in emergency preparedness embarked on a