Local brief
Clatsop County: FEMA frees $14.6 million for Columbia Memorial Hospital’s tsunami-ready expansion in Astoria
FEMA released $14.6 million for Columbia Memorial Hospital’s tsunami-resilient expansion in Astoria, which includes a vertical evacuation structure for up to 1,900 people, Oregon’s emergency management department said Oct. 9, 2026.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released $14.6 million for Columbia Memorial Hospital’s tsunami-resilient expansion in Astoria, the Oregon Department of Emergency Management (OEM) said in an Oct. 9, 2026, update.
The project includes a vertical evacuation structure — a tall, reinforced building people can climb to escape a tsunami — with room for up to 1,900 people.
The money was first awarded through FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. OEM says it was held up after BRIC was suspended in 2025 and is moving again after legal and legislative work.
Sources: Oregon Department of Emergency Management, Federal Actions page (https://www.oregon.gov/oem/Pages/Federal-Changes.aspx), and FEMA press release (https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20260929/fema-approves-nearly-43-million-funding-help-communities-recover-recent). Notice Nearby wrote this brief in its own words. More Clatsop County notices: https://noticenearby.com/or/clatsop · Oregon hub: https://noticenearby.com/or · Local businesses: ZOST.app (https://zost.app)
Source: the public notice on this register NN-GOVMAIL-20261009R-07 · Oregon Department of Emergency Management / FEMA.
This is a Notice Nearby local brief — an in-house explainer written from a government-posted notice on this register. It is not official minutes, not a newspaper story, and not Legal Publication.