Tsunami Preparedness Rising, But Has Way To Go

09/26/2006

The first of 32 new tsunami warning sirens along the Northwest coast and straits has been put up. It's at Sandy Point, near the Washington-British Columbia border. Out in the ocean, the U.S. has added eight additional buoys to its Pacific tsunami detection network. Give a gold star for technology. And mark down an "incomplete" for personal preparedness. Correspondent Tom Banse has more details on the grades.

SOUND: [warning siren wails]

THAT'S THE SOUND THE BRAND NEW WARNING SIREN NEXT TO THE SANDY POINT FIRE STATION MAKES. IF THAT SIREN EVER BLARES FOR THREE MINUTES STRAIGHT FOLLOWED BY…

SOUND: [Pre-recorded warning announcement: "Move to higher ground immediately! Do not delay. Do not call 911. Move."]

…A PRE-RECORDED BOOMING VOICE. THAT MEANS A TSUNAMI - OR TIDAL WAVE - IS HEADED OUR WAY. VOLUNTEER FIREMAN RALPH PETERSON HAS WATCHED A COMPUTER SIMULATION OF WHAT WOULD HAPPEN TO THIS FLAT PENINSULA NEAR BELLINGHAM. THE SEVERAL HUNDRED BEACH HOMES AROUND US DISAPPEAR UNDER FAST RISING WATER.

PETERSON: "If the Big One should hit off of Vancouver Island, Sandy Point would be covered by about six feet of water coming in at three to five knots. The Fire Department is probably at sea level. You're a tall guy and you'd be underwater right now."

FIRE CHIEF JIM PETRI IS EXCITED TO SEE THE LONG SOUGHT AFTER WARNING SIREN. BUT HE KNOWS THE HIGH TECH GIZMO ALONE WON'T BE HIS SAVIOR.

PETRI: "You know, it's one thing to have the unit up and say we're done. We're not done. We've only just begun. We need to educate the public so when they hear it, they know what to do."

HE'S FAR FROM ALONE. TWO DOZEN COASTAL TOWNS WITH NEW SIRENS FACE THE CHALLENGE OF PUBLICIZING EVACUATION ROUTES AND ASSEMBLY POINTS.

CRAWFORD: "Tsunami preparedness is definitely rising."

WASHINGTON EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI PROGRAM MANAGER GEORGE CRAWFORD.

CRAWFORD: "But I get this question all the time: Are you prepared? No, I'm not prepared. I'll never probably be 100 percent prepared."

IN FACT RIGHT NOW, WASHINGTON STATE GETS A GRADE IN THE "LOW 40'S". THAT COMES FROM A SOCIAL SCIENTIST HIRED BY THE GOVERNMENT. THE RESEARCHER MAILED QUESTIONNAIRES TO COASTAL HOMES AND QUIZZED TOURISTS ON THE BEACHES. CRAWFORD SAYS THE BOTTOM LINE FROM THE OVER 300 RESPONSES IS THAT PEOPLE UNDERSTAND THAT TSUNAMIS HAPPEN HERE. BUT THEY HAVEN'T DONE MUCH ABOUT IT.

CRAWFORD: "In other words have they walked the evacuation routes? Do they have a preparedness kit? Do they have NOAA weather radios, for example."

CRAWFORD SAYS EDUCATION WILL BE A NEVER-ENDING TASK, BUT ONE THAT'S PROBABLY GOING TO GET MORE ATTENTION GOING FORWARD.

CRAWFORD: "You get a tsunami that's coming for example within 20 minutes, you need to know what to do. You don't have time to start thinking about it or start looking for things."

SO EVERY CHANCE HE GETS, HE HAMMERS HOME BASIC IDEAS. HEAD FOR HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY IF YOU'RE ON THE COAST AND YOU FEEL A STRONG EARTHQUAKE. ANOTHER SIGN TO HIGH TAIL IT OUT OF THERE IS IF YOU SEE THE OCEAN WATERS ABRUPTLY RECEDE.

BUT WHAT ABOUT CLUELESS TOURISTS? TENS OF THOUSANDS CAN BE AT THE COAST AT ANY GIVEN TIME. OREGON TSUNAMI PROGRAM COORDINATOR JAY WILSON SPENDS A LOT OF TIME WORRYING ABOUT THEM.

WILSON: "That's still our largest area that we're working on, is how to make sure the visitors know what they're supposed to do in case there's an emergency like that."

WILSON SAYS THE SOLUTION CAN BE AS SIMPLE AS A REFRIGERATOR MAGNET. THEY'RE USED IN RENTAL CONDOS. THE MAGNET HAS TIPS FOR HOW TO ESCAPE THE BIG WAVES.

NOT TO BE OUTDONE, WASHINGTON STATE EMERGENCY MANAGERS ARE WORKING TO GET AN INFOMERCIAL ON HOTEL IN-HOUSE VIDEO CHANNELS.

SOUND: [video soundtrack: "If you're a visitor to the coast and be aware of the safe areas." ]

SELF-RELIANCE REMAINS KEY. EVEN WITH THE NEW ADDITIONS, THE WARNING SIREN NETWORK COVERS LESS THAN HALF OF THE POPULATED AREAS OF THE PACIFIC COAST.

I'M TOM BANSE NEAR FERNDALE, IN NORTHWESTERN WASHINGTON.

© Copyright 2006, KUOW