A recent budget analyst report concluded that if the Marina project moved forward with expanding the harbor in front of the green, the Marina could become profitable, bringing in about $1 million each year.

But if the west harbor stays the same size, the city would have to turn to other options to balance the budget, either by raising boat berthing fees by 15% to 20% over already-planned increases or by charging for parking at the Marina, the report concluded.

It currently costs about $11,700 a year for a 40-foot slip in the West Harbor, the most common size. A 25-foot slip, the cheapest, is $6,000, while the priciest 100-foot slip runs $30,600 annually.

“We remain concerned that if rates are raised so much that they drive people away, that will jeopardize the marina’s ability to operate independently,” Rec and Parks official Sarah Madland said during Monday’s meeting.  

Peskin was unmoved by that argument. Shortly before voting to move the ordinance forward, he said that the department exists to provide the public with parks, not make money.

“The Recreation and Parks Department is, by design, a money loser,” Peskin said.

The post Marina Activists Rating Win Towards San Francisco Harbor Plan appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Three boats tied together anchored outside of Oyster Cove Marina caught fire Wednesday morning and were quickly extinguished.

Shortly after 8 a.m., the South San Francisco Fire Department reported on the fires, which started in a boat that was tied to two others. During the fire, whatever was holding them together failed, Deputy Fire Chief Matt Samson said.

Through interviews, fire officials are trying to determine the number of occupants but several jumped into the water and one was taken to the hospital with a minor injury. The cause of the fire is under investigation. There have been two boat fires off the South City Bayfront in the last two to three years, Samson said, and they were determined to be accidental.

The fire was extinguished by 9:20 a.m. and crews remained on scene until after noon to place oil booms and other environmental protections around the damaged boats so contaminants on board wouldn’t spread before a salvage company removes them from the water, he said.

Multiple fire agencies and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to the incident.

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SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — The Marina Green — 74 acres that so many people love and cherish.

“That openness is a treasure that we have today,” said Dan Clarke, a concerned neighbor.

But that could change with a new project called “The Marina Improvement and Remediation Project.”

It could mean expanding the harbor footprint along Marina Green.

According to project supporters, this is what the Marina looks like today.

A rendering of what the Marina horizon looks like today is pictured.

A rendering of what the Marina horizon looks like today is pictured.

And what it could look like if the project proposal got the green light.

A rendering of what a new design of the Marina horizon could look like is pictured.

A rendering of what a new design of the Marina horizon could look like is pictured.

Here’s the issue: right beside the Marina Green is Gashouse Cove, an area that requires serious cleanup.

Laura Thompson is with “Keep the Waterfront Open.”

“PG&E is providing $190 million to close up that gas toxins that are coming up through the Gashouse Cove which is over by Fort Mason. That is the intent of the settlement to clean up that gas plant and toxins up,” said Thompson.

Many community members are upset.

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They say the SF Recreation and Park Department isn’t doing the cleanup and instead are pushing forward a controversial plan.

“Instead RPD, to use that money to clean up a minimal amount of the toxins and instead build a brand new big boat harbor in front of the last remaining waterfront area in front of the Marina Green,” said Thompson.

Frustrated community members protested today at SF City Hall right before the Recreation and Park Commission meeting, saying they want to maintain the Marina Green and its open waterfront.

“It’s a beautiful unique spot within San Francisco. People from all over the community use this place. To put a boat parking lot in front of Marina Green–it serves so few people when so many can get the advantages of this spot,” said Erin Roach with “Keep The Waterfront Open.”

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Outside City Hall, demonstrators carried signs that said, “No new boat harbor” and “Marina Green for the people.”

Inside meeting chambers, Recreation and Park Commissioners heard the proposal and nearly five dozen public comments.

The majority of the neighbors say “no-way” and that the plan is a “no-go”

Some even gave a thumbs down sign during the project presentation.

“People don’t want a harbor in front of the Marina Green,” said one speaker during public comment.

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“It is outrageous that I have to be here to plead that you not build a new harbor in front of the Marina Green,” said another speaker.

As part of the proposed plan, more than 200 boats would be relocated and moored along Marina Green.

Neighbors say that would block bay views.

Proponents of the plan say the plan would make the waterfront at Gashouse Cove more accessible.

MORE: SF’s wave-activated organ plays sounds of the sea

“We are for going ahead with the EIR. It will give lots of people a lot of opportunity to get on the water in the future,” said one speaker during public comment.

In the end, the Recreation and Park Commission unanimously voted to move forward with an environmental review study.

According to the Department of Recreation and Parks, commissioners added an amendment that the work include a financial feasibility study of the Marina with the objective of minimizing the number of slips in the West Harbor and identifying opportunities to add additional slips in the East Harbor.

The Department released this statement late Thursday afternoon:

The Marina Improvement and Remediation Project is an opportunity to clean up environmental pollution at the SF Marina while increasing public access and expanding recreation both in water and on land. This joint project with the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department and PG&E is governed by a 2021 settlement agreement approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Today’s action by the Recreation and Park Commission authorizes us to proceed with planning and design for environmental review under CEQA. This work will include a financial feasibility study of the Marina with the objective of minimizing the number of slips in the West Harbor and identifying opportunities to add additional slips in the East Harbor. The environmental review process is expected to take 18-24 months and includes an Environmental Impact Report, which will be prepared by the Planning Department. Once the review is complete, we will bring a proposed project back to the Commission for approval with the adoption of CEQA findings; the project will consider both community feedback and the purpose of the settlement to ensure an environmentally and financially sustainable marina.

If you’re on the ABC7 News app, click here to watch live

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San Francisco just moved one step closer to a controversial redesign of a Marina District harbor that would place yachts in front of one of the city’s most iconic views and clean up only some of the pollution the project was initially funded to deal with.

The San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission voted Thursday to move the project forward after an hourslong, sweltering hearing in front of a standing-room-only crowd that booed city staff as they laid out plans. 

The vote came despite an effort by two city leaders to pause the project until more members of the public have a chance to weigh in.

The project would add new, larger boat slips to the harbor, placing parked yachts directly in front of the popular Marina Green promenade. Dozens of people who spoke during public comment at Thursday’s meeting balked at that idea, saying the harbor extension would block the beautiful view of the Marin Headlands and Golden Gate Bridge, transforming one of the city’s most iconic public spaces into an enclave for wealthy yacht owners.

A man walks along the San Francisco Bay Trail at Marina Green, which currently offers an open view of the bay. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard

“It’s not just for the rich people,” 70-year-old Lower Pac Heights resident Sharon Wong said about the Marina Green. 

Boaters, meanwhile, mourned the potential loss of a training ground for young sailors, while environmental advocates said the project failed to clean up enough pollution on the site.

Wong, who grew up near the city’s densely populated Chinatown, said those open bay views have offered her a lifelong connection to nature. She lamented the potential loss of one of the best places people can come to escape the hustle and bustle of Downtown, where, Wong said, “we don’t have this big expansive nature.”

A map outlines the proposed changes to the San Francisco Marina. The project would relocate boat slips from the southeast corner of the Marina to in front of Marina Green. | Source: Courtesy of San Francisco Rec and Park.

The marina redesign stems from a decadeslong legal battle between San Francisco and PG&E. 

The utility’s former coal gasification plant near the harbor polluted the bay for years, and the city sued in 2001 over chemical compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons discovered in the sediments of the East Harbor, according to the City Attorney’s Office. In 2021, PG&E settled with San Francisco, committing to pay up to $160 million to clean up harbor pollution. The settlement set off a multiyear discussion about how, exactly, to spend the money.

The proposal that came out of the process and went before the commission Thursday would radically change the marina. Many of the boat slips in the East Harbor, also known as Gashouse Cove, would be demolished, leaving a new shallow-water basin open to small boats like kayaks and canoes. Those boat slips would move to an expanded West Harbor, protected by a new breakwater, that would sit directly in front of the Marina Green.

The Recreation and Park Department argues that removing toxic pollutants from the lower East Harbor and rebuilding its boat slips, as many advocates want, would actually increase pollution because there’s natural sediment that covers the toxic material, according to department spokesperson Tamara Aparton.

“Rebuilding rather than relocating the harbor would require this natural sediment cover to be removed to accommodate the dredging required for the return of boats to the area,” Aparton told The Standard. “Removing the sediment cover would generate significant sediment pollution during construction.”

Boats float in the East Harbor at Gashouse Cove in San Francisco. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard

But critics of the project, including city supervisors Aaron Peskin and Ahsha Safaí, speculate that the decision to leave the toxic material untouched is driven by dollar signs. That’s because the proposed slips in front of the Marina Green would be larger, allowing the department to charge more to park. And the new breakwater would reduce the costly dredging needed to maintain the harbor.

“This can’t be driven by the desire just to make money,” Safaí told The Standard.

Currently, dredging the harbor costs millions, Recreation and Park Department Project Manager Monica Scott said during the meeting. As a result, the department subsidizes the marina with $4 million from its general fund each year, Scott said.

“That is truly the goal that we’re trying to move away from when we talk about financial sustainability for the marina,” Scott said.

The project, as proposed, would spend about $68 million cleaning up pollution and $54 million on harbor renovations, Scott said.

Thursday’s commission vote directed city staff to conduct an environmental analysis of the project, which could take up to two years. In an apparent nod to the overwhelming public opposition to the project, commissioners also directed city staff to look into the financial feasibility of minimizing the number of slips in the West Harbor, where they have the potential to block views.

A person looks out at boats at the San Francisco Marina. | Source: Jason Henry for The Standard

That consolation, however, didn’t sate Marina District resident Erin Roach, who has led opposition to the project.

“At the end of the day, [the Recreation and Park Department] is still trying to divert funds from this settlement to solve a separate issue with the West Harbor,” Roach said. “And in doing so, San Franciscans stand to lose a beloved landmark.”

Thursday’s vote did not bind the project to the current design, and it will come before the commission again once the environmental review wraps up. If it stays on track, construction would begin in 2026.

Whether the wiggle room introduced by the commission Thursday will warm Peskin to the process, which he previously described as authoritarian, is yet to be seen. He’s largely taken issue with a perceived lack of effort on the part of Recreation and Parks to involve community input.

“If the Recreation and Parks Commission doesn’t get the message,” he told The Standard ahead of the vote, “I imagine the Board of Supervisors will cut the funding.”

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From the 74-acre expanse of Marina Green, visitors can enjoy what some consider San Francisco’s last unspoiled waterfront vista – with unobstructed views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Angel Island.

Not far from the greensward, lies the polluted site of Gashouse Cove, where a 19th century plant made gas to light and heat homes. It operated until just after the 1906 earthquake.

A plan in the works to clean up some of the waste from that plant has neighbors outraged. They say it will not clean up all the waste in the cove, and will force relocation of more than 200 boats that will block what has long been unspoiled bay views.

“The Marina Green is my front yard,” said Erin Roach, who has lived alongside Marina Green for three decades. She watched as her neighbors have fought to make PG&E clean up the toxic residue left in the area from the gas plants that were torn down long ago. “We have a long legacy of battles with PG&E,” she says.   

The cleanup is to isolate or remove contamination from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, a class of chemicals that turns up in the soil and water surrounding the plants and is tied to birth defects and cancer. Some of that waste still bubbles up at the Gashouse Cove next door to the Marina Green.

Roach says she was relieved when the city reached a $190 million deal with the utility to pay to clean up the cove. But then she learned that the settlement came with what she considers an unthinkable price – the loss of the park’s expansive views of the bay. 

“When I heard that they want to put a new harbor in front of the Marina Green,” Roach said, “it kind of broke my heart.”

The plan calls for closing much of the harbor in Gashouse Cove and moving boats from there into a new larger one, running along the green. Neighbors responded by forming a group called “Keep the Waterfront Open.”

There’s a plan in the works to clean up a toxic mess along San Francisco’s shore. But neighbors say the plan comes at an unacceptable price — ruining the city’s last unspoiled waterfront view. NBC Bay Area’s Jaxon Van Derbeken has more.

“Let’s face it, San Francisco’s not the most popular city in the country right now — and this is a really beloved spot,” Roach said. “It’s a bad time for us to be giving something away that San Franciscans actually really care about and love.’’

“There’s magic here,” said Bill Clarke, who lives in the city’s Mission District, but has volunteered in the past to keep the park clean. The retired restaurateur says he has a boat docked nearby and joined the movement when he heard what park planners had in mind.

“It’s not just for the neighborhood,” he said. “It’s not just for San Francisco. It’s for all kinds of different people coming from all over the place.

“It’s such a treasure,” he added. “I can’t imagine them taking it away.”

At a Recreation and Parks board committee meeting this month, city officials hailed the Marina Improvement and Remediation Project as an historic deal that breaks a two decade long legal logjam over cleanup with PG&E.  

 “This settlement agreement helps the city achieve its goals of addressing the pollution and reinvesting in the Marina,” said Kelli Rudnick, deputy director of capital for the Recreation and Parks Department.

There will be new amenities, like kayaking and paddleboarding in the partially restored gashouse cove, she told residents, as well as revamped bathrooms serving the park. The goal, Rudnick told residents, is to make the waterfront more accessible to everyone. 

The parks department says that cleanup plan involves covering toxic sediment beneath the bay with clean material — rather than dredging up and hauling away vast amounts of toxic material. That strategy, they say, will both reduce collateral contamination and allow the clean-up to finish in just four years.

Still, neighbors who attended that hearing were not satisfied.

“This room is full of people who don’t want you to build a boat harbor on the Marina Green,” said one of the harbor front group’s organizers, Dan Clarke. Clarke had been engaged in a long legal battle with the utility over cleanup around his Marina home, which he ultimately sold to the utility as part of a legal settlement.  

Others urged that the Marina Green project be sent “back to the drawing board.” One calling it, “an incredible waste of city money” and “a project that is flawed in many ways, unsafe and unwanted by the majority of our citizens.”

The deal faces a key hurdle on Oct. 19, when the city Recreation and Parks board conducts a hearing on next steps, including whether to authorize environmental studies needed to move the project forward.

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SAN FRANCISCO — Prosecutors have alerted former San Francisco Fire Department Commissioner Don Carmignani that they will drop the charges he suffered a caning in front of his mother’s home in the city’s Marina District Earlier this month, according to his attorney.

Carmigiani, 53, was hit with a metal pipe and suffered serious head injuries, including a fractured skull. Hours earlier, he and his mother called 911 to report that three homeless people had set up camp at her home and said they had threatened his family with violence.

Carmigiani said neither the San Francisco Police Department nor homeless service providers responded to emergency calls. That evening he passed by the house and after telling the group to leave the house said that two people approached him threateningly, one of whom attacked him with the metal pipe.

In his first public statements since the attack, Carmignani said prosecutors had alerted his attorney that they were dismissing the case based on new evidence they had received — a video of a person alleging prosecutors Carmignani was using bear spray against him Homeless people in another incident.

Carmignani denies he is the person in the video and said the decision to dismiss the case came as a surprise to him.

Carmignani is still recovering from his serious injuries and said his doctor told him if his attacker had hit him in a specific spot again, he would have lost his life.

“I didn’t go out to fight anymore, I try to get them out on the street, go to the park,” Carmignani said. “It’s three against one. I know the odds. I’m 52 years old. I have two hip prostheses. I’m an old guy, I could have been a dead guy.”

Carmignani said his attorney pointed out that other evidence of assaults on homeless people believed to have been committed by Carmignani led to the decision to dismiss the case.

“All I know is that they showed me an interesting person and that wasn’t me,” he said.

After the attack, Garret Allen Doty, 24, was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault and violent assault.

A spokeswoman for the public defender’s office said Doty’s public defender “received a discovery from prosecutors containing evidence of previous unprovoked attacks on the homeless allegedly committed by Carmignani,” but she would not confirm if district attorney Brooke Jenkins to do so would drop the charges.

The prosecutor’s office did not respond to requests to drop the charges. The preliminary hearing for Doty is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday morning in the Hall of Justice.

Carmignani noted that neither the police department nor the prosecutor’s office interviewed him to get his version of events.

Cellphone video image of the attack on former San Francisco Fire Department Commissioner Don Carmignani

CBS

Carmignani said he was saddened by this new development and believed the city was in a complete state of chaos. He says the suspect is a threat to the community and he and his family fear for their lives living in the Marina District.

He said he thinks the city’s government has failed its residents, though he stopped blaming District Attorney Jenkins, and said he thinks politicians’ hands are tied.

After the attack, both Jenkins and Police Chief Bill Scott said the attack was the type of street crime that had rocked the city and that they were both committed to fighting it.

“I understand how a violent attack like this can upset a community and I am committed to holding the accused accountable so we send the strongest message that violence like this is unacceptable,” the prosecutor said in one Explanation. “I send strength to the victim as he continues his recovery and we will do everything in our power to achieve justice for the victim and the traumatized community.”

“Our hearts are with him and his family,” Scott told KPIX. “He is expected to survive his injuries, which is good news. But those kinds of brutal attacks and those kinds of brazen attacks, those are the things that scare people.”

If convicted on all charges, Doty faces up to seven years in prison.

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Local cannabis entrepreneur and former San Francisco Fire Department Commissioner Don Carmignani was hospitalized after he was beaten by two men after an altercation outside his mother’s Marina home on Wednesday night.

“My son Don was beaten with a steel pipe by two men on Laguna Street and Lombard Street last night,” reads a Nextdoor post by Carmignani’s mother, Joan, thanked the neighbors who got involved, ended the fight and called 911. “If they weren’t there, my son would be dead!”

“He’s in the hospital with a fractured skull, a broken jaw and lots of lacerations,” added Carmignani’s mother.

The San Francisco Police Department confirmed that at 5:20 p.m. a man was attacked with a metal object in Laguna, near Magnolia Street, and was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A suspect has been arrested.

“Right now, one of my dear friends is in the hospital after being attacked by a homeless man with a metal pipe in the marina last night,” San Francisco supervisor Catherine Stefani, whose District 2 covers the marina, said at a city meeting Thursday.

Stefani explained that Don Carmignani’s mother called the police because homeless people were taking drugs outside her door and wouldn’t leave. When the police didn’t respond, her son came to speak to the men outside her door and was attacked.

“We’re short of 55 officers at North Station. It’s a real thing,” said Stefani, who said Carmignani’s sister-in-law is her daughter’s teacher. “It’s not scaremongering… I’ve been here for 21 years and it hasn’t happened before. I think it’s a direct result of not having enough officers on our street.”

Ali Jamalian, a friend of Carmignani and head of Sunset Connect dispensary and the city’s cannabis regulatory committee, said: “There were two guys smoking meth or crack outside his mother’s house like they were blocking the entrance and she is late seventies. ”

He said the same men had been hanging out there for a while. “And I think the Bulls wouldn’t come out, despite some complaints from others. When he went out and asked them to move away, they attacked him.”

“He’s a very well-known local cannabis entrepreneur,” Jamalian said. “He’s always been a pro-cannabis landlord and a fighter for the cause. And he’s a local boy – Sacred Heart, third generation, a wonderful man.”

Mayor Ed Lee appointed Carmignani to the Fire Department Commission in 2013, but resigned after just four months following an arrest for domestic violence crimes. According to a 2016 SF Weekly report, he pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge and was sentenced to a fine, probation and counseling.

He then received several cannabis licenses from the city and became an early key player in the city’s business when California relaxed regulations on the drug.

The Standard Staff can be reached at [email protected]

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SAN FRANCISCO — Residents fed up with crime, homelessness, drug use and sales, and mental health issues in San Francisco’s District 2, which includes the Marina and Cow Hollow, aired their concerns in a public safety Q&A town hall at Marina Middle School Tuesday .

Supervisor Catherine Stefani, Police Chief Bill Scott, Northern Station Captain Derrick Jackson and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins took questions from the audience. City representatives from Healthy Streets SF, Homeless and Supportive Housing, and the Department of Public Health were also among the panelists.

Marina resident Sam Chehrazi shared a video with KPIX 5 of an attempted break-in in broad daylight at his home in May.

Home surveillance video showed a man scraping his front door with a tool, before kicking the door multiple times as he yelled threats and obscenities. Chehrazi was on the other side of that door on the phone with 911. He barricaded the door with his body.

It’s the kind of daily crime that brought concerned residents to the meeting, which at times got heated.

Long-time residents told the panelists crime has never been worse in their neighborhood.

“I too don’t feel safe and my wife when she’s walking around, I also feel concerned,” said Chehrazi. “And we all kind of walk around with our finger on our pepper spray around here.”

Chehrazi was victimized just a month after he moved to San Francisco from the Peninsula. He said former district attorney Chesa Boudin committed to charging the case as vandalism, stopping short of attempted burglary.

Following the incident, Chehrazi started a neighborhood petition called Saving San Francisco, asking city officials – including the mayor, district attorney and SFPD – for stricter enforcement of laws. He said he’s gathered 100 signatures.

“The fact that we’re witnessing criminal activity on a daily basis in broad daylight and we’re calling the police, we’re writing to our supervisor, we’ve written to the district attorney, we’ve written to the police caption , and we’ve also written to the mayor and nobody’s responding, it really makes it feel more unsettled,” he said.

The police department said it now has a strong working partnership with District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. SFPD encouraged residents to keep reporting concerns so the department can collect data and prioritize calls for service.

Scott acknowledged the department’s staffing crisis, saying it is at least 500 officers short. Jenkins promised accountability and pushed for a collective effort.

“As California residents, I think we have to look at the laws and see do we need to make changes,” she said. “Right now, misdemeanor laws don’t really hold any serious consequences at this point, and it’s because of things that have happened over the course of years to the laws.”

Jenkins told the audience she is making progress when it comes to cracking down open-air drug markets.

She said 400 narcotics cases have been submitted to her office and she filed 379 cases, more than double the amount filed by the office during the same time period last year.

Of those 379 cases, Jenkins filed motions to detain 16 drug dealers with the most egregious cases.

As for Chehrazi, his greatest concern is how the community is dealing with known individuals in the Marina, who don’t accept city services.

“So where does that put us having to walk down the street, and go to the grocery store, or go to the bank, or run errands and being integrated with people that need help,” he said. “They need stricter intervention, something more than just ‘do you need help?’ Those people say ‘no,’ and then the city walking away.”

Betty Yu

Betty Yu joined KPIX 5 in November 2013 as a general assignment reporter. She spent two years at WTVJ, the NBC-owned station in Miami, as a reporter before moving to San Francisco.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/AP) — An underwater volcano spectacularly erupted near the Pacific nation of Tonga on Saturday, sending large tsunami waves across the coast and triggering a rare tsunami alert for the northern California coast.

The National Weather Service issued the alert tweet – “A tsunami advisory has been issued for the US West Coast, including our area. Wave arrival time: around 7:35 this morning. A tsunami is expected that can create strong currents that endanger swimmers, boats and coastal structures.”

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Waves of 1-3 feet are possible.

The Weather Service issued the following estimated arrival times for the tsunami wave:

• Fort Bragg – 7:35 am
• Monterey – 7:35 a.m
• Crescent City – 8:00 a.m
• San Francisco – 8:10 am

#Tsunami is expected to reach #SanFrancisco around 8:10 am this morning, which corresponds to #HighTide for #SanFrancisco at 9:09 am. Expect low lying flooding and minor flooding, particularly in areas like #MarinHeadlands. #Cawx pic.twitter.com/PoR3WYZ13D

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 15, 2022

The weather service tweeted: “This is especially important for people who are just waking up and may not be checking the news or social media before heading out for their morning walk on the beach. Please consider phoning loved ones if you know they are currently on shore to let them know of the danger.”

Stay on higher ground. This is an actual view of Miramar Beach in Half Moon Bay. @SMHarbor #CaWx #California @sanmateoco @sccounty pic.twitter.com/irnxkofMGi

— CAL FIRE CZU (@CALFIRECZU) January 15, 2022

Tide gauges at Point Reyes and Monterey are now experiencing initial water disturbances from the incoming tsunami. (see diagrams)

The tsunami will hit our shores and bays over the course of several hours, and peak water levels may not arrive for hours after onset. pic.twitter.com/AkbVSvqKfp

— NWS Bay Area (@NWSBayArea) January 15, 2022

The San Leandro police also issued a warning.

“Extensive flooding is not expected at this time, but damaging wave activity could occur in ports and marinas,” the alert said. “While no large waves or extensive flooding are expected in the area, we are advising residents to avoid waterways until the warning is canceled as the waves could still pose a hazard to boats and swimmers.”

Watch Live: Santa Cruz Harbor Webcam

San Francisco Emergency Medical Services officials also issued a warning.

“A tsunami advisory means strong, dangerous currents are expected to affect San Francisco’s beaches, ports and marinas, and finger piers in coastal areas,” the alert said. “Dangerous currents are expected to begin at 8:10 a.m. and continue for many hours.”

The wave hit the Hawaiian Islands around 6 a.m

“A tsunami is currently being observed by the emergency management of all islands,” the weather service tweeted. “We are relieved that there is no reported damage and only minor flooding on the islands.”

There were no immediate reports of injuries in Tonga or the extent of the damage as communications with the small nation remained problematic. Videos posted on social media showed large waves washing ashore in coastal areas and swirling around houses and buildings.

2022-01-14: (Correction on date) Large volcanic eruption near Tonga (Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano) seen from space today. Shown on visible images by Himawari satellite. #hiwx #tsunami #earthquake pic.twitter.com/Y18W7wvXl9

— NWSHonolulu (@NWSHonolulu) January 15, 2022

The New Zealand military said it was monitoring the situation and remained on standby to assist if asked.

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Satellite imagery showed a massive eruption, a cloud of ash, steam and gas, mushrooming over blue Pacific waters.

A tsunami warning was in effect for the entire archipelago, according to Tonga Meteorological Services, and data from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center showed waves of 80 centimeters (2.6 feet) were measured.

Residents of American Samoa were alerted to the tsunami warning by local broadcasters and church bells ringing nationwide. An external siren warning system was out of order. Those living along the coast quickly moved to higher ground.

As night fell, there were no reports of damage and the Hawaii-based tsunami center canceled the warning.

Authorities in the nearby island nations of Fiji and Samoa also issued warnings, urging people to avoid the coast because of strong currents and dangerous waves. The Japan Meteorological Agency said there may be a slight swell in the water along Japan’s coasts, but no damage is expected.

News site Islands Business reported that a convoy of Tonga’s police and military troops escorted King Tupou VI. evacuated from his palace near the coast. He was among the many residents who moved to a higher level.

The explosion of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai volcano was the latest in a series of spectacular eruptions.

A Twitter user identified as Dr. Faka’iloatonga Taumoefolau released video showing waves crashing ashore.

“Can literally hear the volcano erupting, sounds pretty intense,” he wrote, adding in a later post, “It’s raining ash and tiny pebbles, darkness covers the sky.”

Earlier, the Matangi Tonga news site reported that scientists observed massive explosions, thunder and lightning near the volcano after it erupted early Friday. Satellite imagery showed a cloud 5 kilometers (3 miles) across that rose about 20 kilometers (12 miles) into the air.

More than 2,300 kilometers away in New Zealand, officials warned of storm surges from the outbreak.

The National Emergency Management Agency said some parts of New Zealand could expect “strong and unusual currents and unpredictable coastal waves” after a major volcanic eruption.

The volcano is about 64 kilometers (40 miles) north of the capital, Nuku’alofa. Already in late 2014 and early 2015, a series of eruptions in the region created a small new island and disrupted international air traffic to the Pacific archipelago for several days.

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About 105,000 people live in Tonga.

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