Thanks to the hard work and dedication by a group of community members and public agencies, extensive safety signage has been installed at Big Lagoon Beach, one of the most dangerous beaches in Humboldt County, in the aftermath of two tragic incidents. On October 9 during the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors meeting there will be a presentation to recognize people who were instrumental in initiating, designing, installing and funding the safety sign project.
A family lost their lives in 2012 and another young girl lost her life this year at Big Lagoon Beach, where there are unpredictable, powerful ocean waves and exceptionally steep beach faces. Once swept in to the ocean, the chance of survival at this beach is low. The safety signs will increase awareness of these unseen dangerous conditions and hopefully save lives.
A committee was started in May 2018 to develop a plan to advise local people and tourists about the danger of this beach and prevent future tragedies. Sign location and content were critical concerns of the committee to ensure effectiveness. It was a daunting task because of the challenge of communicating natural hazard information to a diverse audience, along with the multiple paths of travel to the beach and the need to comply with permitting regulations. However, thanks to this group’s hard work Big Lagoon Beach now displays potentially life-saving information.
The cost of the signs and the installation was covered by donations from Green Diamond Resource Company and all of the local State Farm Agents.
Below are photos and a map of the signs:
