New maps show broader tsunami hazards across Tiburon Peninsula

Low-lying areas of downtown Tiburon, the Belvedere Lagoon, Blackie’s Pasture, the Bel Aire neighborhood and Paradise Cay could be inundated by a 13-foot wall of water in a massive tsunami, according to new state maps that show expanded street-level hazard predictions.

The Marin maps released last month, the first update since 2009, come from the California Geological Survey and the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services as part of its coastal-county project to help cities and counties with response planning.

The new maps show much greater risk to waterfront properties that weren’t previously in hazard areas, including all along Lyford Cove and below Mar East Street, the Point Tiburon Bayside condos and the Belveron and Bel Aire neighborhoods, with more impact seen in Belvedere along Lagoon Road and San Rafael Avenue. In Strawberry, all of the Strawberry Village Shopping Center is now included.

Critical infrastructure would also be directly in the path, now including the Belvedere and Tiburon police stations and Belvedere City Hall, adding to the previous threat to Tiburon Town Hall, the downtown fire station and all the peninsula’s sanitation facilities — with even more of Tiburon Boulevard blocked underwater during a potential evacuation.

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