FEMA promised funds to tsunami-proof an Oregon hospital. That money is MIA

"Eight years ago, Erik Thorsen CEO of Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Ore. received a warning that no hospital administrator wants to hear: A big earthquake could cause his hospital's building to collapse. His staff and his patients could die in a matter of moments. "They basically said, 'None of you are prepared for a major natural disaster from the Cascadia subduction zone,' recalls Thorsen."

"The Cascadia subduction zone is an earthquake-prone region that stretches about 700 miles from California to British Columbia. Thorsen's hospital sits right along it which is why a team of experts and engineers from the state had come to talk to him and other leaders from coastal hospitals about earthquake risk. Alarmed, Thorsen who grew up in this area, left for college, and then returned to raise his family here got to work fundraising and planning in order to fortify his hospital."

"A critical part of the project's $300 million budget was to come from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Their $14 million grant would help to build a tsunami evacuation zone in the hospital. But in April, the Trump administration canceled the grant program that awarded the funding, called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. A report from the Urban Institute estimates this cancellation jeopardizes over $3 billion nationally in hazard mitigation funds to protect communities from threats like floods, wildfires, tornadoes and hurricanes."

Erik Thorsen, CEO of Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria, Ore., learned a major Cascadia earthquake could collapse the hospital and kill staff and patients. The Cascadia subduction zone stretches about 700 miles from California to British Columbia, placing the hospital directly in a high-risk area. Thorsen initiated fundraising and planning to fortify the hospital and build a tsunami evacuation zone as part of a $300 million project. A $14 million FEMA BRIC grant was critical to the plan. The Trump administration canceled the BRIC program in April, jeopardizing more than $3 billion nationally in hazard mitigation funding.

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