wave of consequence, actually the second wave, rose like a fast tide at 

 ■both Kodiak City and in Womens Bay and inundated the waterfronts at both 

 places. This flooding was photographed at the two places in the twilight 

 overcast of the setting sun at about 6:20 p.m. 



Only wetting damage resulted from this inundation, but it was fol- 

 lowed by an awesome withdrawal of water from St. Pauls Harbor. Velocities 

 were estimated to have been as high as 25 miles per hour as the sea obeyed 

 the trough motion of what is considered to have been a combination of the 

 astronomical tide, the main tsunami, the large Continental Shelf oscilla- 

 tion, and the local St. Pauls Harbor oscillation (Figure 91)- The first 

 damage resulted during this withdrawal of water which apparently sucked 

 out part of the southwest breakwater of the boat harbor, and a store and 

 hangar alongside the Near Island Channel. It carried away many of the 

 boats in the boat harbor and left others on the exposed bed of the harbor 

 and in the channel. 



t[ The next, "third" wave (35 to Uo feet high) was a combination of the 

 irst progressive wave crest of the coastward moving tsunami, the second 

 wave of the shelf oscillation and additional local oscillations, which 

 now moved into the denuded area via the Near Island Channel as a foaming 

 tore (Figure 99). Its velocity of advance up this channel appears to have 

 been close to 50 miles per hour. Although a crab boat surf-rode the slope 

 of this monstrous wave and survived, the wave tore but docks and canneries 

 in the channel and invaded the boat harbor where, with its counterpart 

 from the Gull Island passage, it swirled and swept the fishing fleet and 

 docks into the lower part of town. Whatever survived was weakened by this 

 huge wave, and fell prey to a similar but higher wave that moved in later 

 during the night on the rising tide in much the same way. 



The destruction caused by the tsunami in Kodiak City is shown in 

 Figure 103. Nearly all wooden frame buildings in the path of the waves 

 were either buoyed off their foundations and swept away, or were pounded 

 to destruction by the momentum of water and accumulated debris. Reinforced 

 concrete structures fared much better, however; one (Krafts Grocery) near 

 the waterfront and in the full sweep of the waves , was rated salvable 

 though damaged. 



Eight people died at Kodiak City, and nearly 100 vessels were lost 

 or damaged. Total estimated property damage according to the Office of 

 Civil Defense exceeded $31 million. 



At the Naval Station on Nyman Peninsula, Kodiak (Figure 113), the 

 sequence of waves was similar but differed in detail according to the 

 nature of the local oscillations (Figure 38). The damage here was in 

 excess of $10 million, most of which was caused by the tsunami. The 

 force of moving water was much less here than at Kodiak City, and most 

 of the damage occurred through dock structures being buoyed off their 

 piles or out of their pile holes, through inundation and through founda- 

 tion settlement. It is noteworthy that neither at Kodiak City nor at the 

 Naval Station were the oil tank installations set on fire, largely because 

 they were out of reach of the waves and no oil spillage occurred. 



355 



