Whole towns in Japan have been rebuilt while the Noyo Harbor District waits for insurance money from damages caused by the March 11, 2011 tsunami.
Harbor commissioners expressed frustration and bemusement at last week”s meeting that they are still waiting for payment from Navigators Insurance more than a year after a wave surge wrenched the mooring basin. The district hired both an insurance adjuster and a consultant to help them with grants and payment related to the event.
The wait may mean the district will have to put off until next year repairs to twisted pilings and replacement of the 22 berths on B, C and D docks that were snapped off during the tsunami.
Those are some of the largest, deepest and most easily accessed berths in the harbor. Those berths rent for $200 per month, said Jere Kleinbach, manager of Noyo Harbor District. Increased boat traffic, thanks to superb crab fishing in 2012 and a big upcoming salmon season, means the district must turn away rentals to dozens of eager commercial and sport anglers for two year, perhaps more.
Noyo Harbor bought private insurance, while other harbors did not, but have gotten government disaster funds.
“Noyo Harbor did not receive state/federal assistance for repairs, as all damage was covered by insurance,” said Jordan Scott of CalEMA. Noyo Harbor was not included in a recent $8.8 million emergency loan fund that Assemblyman Wes Chesbro just helped pass the Assembly. The money is needed now in Crescent City, where damage was much worse. Chesbro”s office said Noyo Harbor was not included in allocations that went to Santa Cruz and Crescent City harbors.
How much federal and state aid has come in so far in Fort Bragg?
“To date, CalEMA has paid the harbor district a $1,500 administration fee on the $15,000 they approved to cover a portion of the harbor district insurance deductible,” district officials said in response.
No more state money is in the pipeline.
Scott said the statewide cost of the disaster is currently estimated between $38 and $40 million.
“These figures are only estimates and they are based on approved projects compiled through damage assessments. As this was both a state and federally declared disaster, recovery assistance will be provided on a cost-sharing basis between federal, state and local government with FEMA covering approximately 75 percent and CalEMA covering approximately 17 percent, Scott said.
The short, but powerful ocean wave traveling at 500 miles per hour, wasn”t much to see when it arrived on the Mendocino Coast 10 hours after hitting Japan, disappointingly diminutive to those who defied warnings to watch it arrive from the mouth of the harbor.
There was no big breaking wave; instead, dramatic home videos show a scene in the mooring basin that looks like a bathtub being quickly drained, refilling at a terrifying rate, then the water draining out again. No boats were lost, but 22 berths were destroyed. Most boats were quickly put out to sea just before the wave hit, thanks to quick early morning work by the U.S. Coast Guard, boat owners and the harbor district.
Navigators Insurance officials have visited Noyo Harbor numerous times, said Commissioner Tommy Ancona. The district hired both SHN Consulting Engineers and Geologists and Greenspan Company Adjusters International to smooth negotiations and paperwork along.
“We met with them on the ground, on the floats, in the harbor, on boats,” said Thomas Herman, of SHN. “The commission and harbor staff have done everything possible to facilitate the carriers” issues and questions.”
No one thinks the insurance company won”t pay on the claim, it”s only a question of when and how much.
“Apparently there is no statute of limitations or required time frame. I would have thought we would have it done within a year,” said Herman.
Ancona expressed frustrations, wondering about the reasons for the long wait and saying the district can”t lay the groundwork for repairs while waiting resolution of the claim.
Kleinbach said the pile driving season runs from Aug. 15 to Oct. 15.
“I don”t believe we could have the permits in hand by then unless this was done as an emergency situation,” Kleinbach said.
Herman said that isn”t likely.
“I approached the Coastal Commission and suggested this is an emergency because of loss of revenue and the loss of safe harbor for boats traveling between Eureka and the Bay Area. They said they could no longer consider this an emergency. It would have to be a standard application. I doubt it could now happen before August,” said Herman.
In the past, Congressman Mike Thompson and Chesbro have been willing to intervene on behalf of the commission.
The district has a second insurance policy with Navigators Insurance that covers loss of revenue from a disaster. Commissioners said that policy only lasted one year. No money has been paid on either policy so far, Kleinbach said.
The “A” dock, which hugs the shoreline, escaped damage. Most of the wave power had dissipated after crunching B, C and D, with the remaining E through H alphabet docks appearing OK at first glance after the five minutes of terrifying up and down had stopped. The truly frightening part of the tsunami was the thunderous cracking of the three docks, which could be clearly heard out on Noyo River Bridge. Big telephone pole-like piles remain tipped and tilted. Many docks literally had the stuffing ripped out of them. Styrofoam pads and dock flotation parts were still visible piled or floating two weeks after the tsunami. Hardest hit was C dock, about a third of which was turned to kindling by the tsunami surge.
Early estimates total damages at $4 million in Noyo Harbor, far less than in Santa Cruz Harbor and in Crescent City. Nine percent of the final figure goes to the adjuster, Greenspan. SHN was awarded a $90,000 contract for services related to the tsunami, which will include helping with the rebuild effort. The estimate has not been updated publicly and the district says an update will wait until ongoing negotiations are complete.
An email to Navigators Insurance press contact was not immediately returned. The company”s 2011 annual report to the Securities and Exchange Commission does not mention the Japanese tsunami event as a major ripple in the company”s 2011 earnings for the marine division which have recently turned into the black and upward. Because of much lower than average use of insurance in Japan, the tsunami and earthquake was not as costly to the worldwide insurance journal, as were more minor quakes in other nations, insurance journals report (meaning many businesses and people in Japan were left without insurance).
The one event that would cost Navigators the most is a major California earthquake, SEC files state.
“We estimate that our largest exposure to loss from a single natural catastrophe event comes from an earthquake on the West Coast of the United States. As of December 31, 2011, we estimate that our probable maximum pre-tax gross and net loss exposure from such an earthquake event would be approximately $174.2 million and $28.8 million, respectively, including the cost of reinsurance reinstatement premiums,” the annual report states.
The MCTV tsunami action can be seen online in a MCTV video at www.mendocoasttv.org/FirstTsunamiSurgehitsNoyoHarborMarch112011.html#featured.
