Contents Volume 8, Number 2, April 2006

Special features Departments Addressing social vulnerability to hazards...... 1 Hazard Mitigation News ...... 15 FEMA reorganizes to meet 21st century demands...... 11 Publications ...... 19 Off NW coast of North America, meteorological tsunami ?...... 12 Websites ...... 23 NOAA names Indian Harbour Beach TsunamiReady...... 13 Classes, workshops...... 25 TsunamiReady sites ...... 14 Conferences/ symposia...... 25 Exhibits ...... 26 Material added to NTHMP Library ...... 36 Other news briefs ...... 28 NTHMP Steering Group Directory...... 37 Washington tsunami evacuation maps...... 28 State Emergency Management Offices...... 38 Eyewitness accounts of 1906 S.F. earthquake...... 29 Videos...... 39 Disability updates/responses to last issue...... 35 IAQ7 ...... 40 Tsunami glossary……………………………...... 14

ADDRESSING SOCIAL VULNERABILITY TO HAZARDS By Lorelei Juntunen Disaster Safety Review, v. 4, no. 2, p. 3-10 Published by the Institute for Business & Home Safety Reprinted with permission

INTRODUCTION Despite extensive documentation, the most ap- Disasters occur as a predictable interaction propriate method of addressing social vulnerability to among systems: natural systems (such as rivers hazards remains untested. This project fills the gap, and continental plates), the built environment linking research with local mitigation practice. (cities and roads), and social systems (commun- Through a case study in Clark County, Wash- ity organization infrastructure that includes class, ington, this project explores the promise of GIS map- age, ethnic, and gender diversity). While signifi- ping as a means of creating mitigation strategies for cant research has been dedicated to all three of vulnerable groups. Mapping has been suggested in these areas, local mitigation efforts continue to part because it fits neatly into the prescribed risk as- focus on the more easily definable natural and sessment methodology; this project maps one vulner- built systems. Because they address vulnera- able population and, using a traditional hazard plan- bilities as infrastructure only, plans that inade- ning methodology, derives mitigation strategies for quately address the social system component of that population. However, while maps serve an im- the community implicitly assume that hazards portant planning function, a collaborative approach to strike demographically homogenous populations. addressing social vulnerability may also produce This is very rarely the case. In fact, both in their promising mitigation strategies. A focus group that initial impact and in recovery from them, disas- includes both the service providers who work closely ters have been shown to disproportionately im- with vulnerable populations and the disaster response pact lower income groups, women, and ethnic professionals who create mitigation plans tests the minorities (Blaikie, et al., 1994, Wisner, 1998, hypothesis. Focus group participants will discuss the Morrow, 1999, Fothergill, et al., 1999, Mileti, causal factors that underlie social vulnerability, and 1999, Klineberg, 2002). Furthermore, disasters brainstorm the mitigation strategies that will be most can exacerbate poverty, leaving these populations appropriate for those populations. The project with even fewer recovery resources. (continued on page 3)

TsuInfo Alert

is prepared by the Washington State Department of Natural Resources on behalf of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program, a State/Federal Partnership funded through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

It is assembled by Lee Walkling, Librarian, and is published bi-monthly by the Washington Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources.

This publication is free upon request and is available in print (by surface mail), electronically (by e-mail), and at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/tsuinfo/index.html. Participants in the TsuInfo program can request copies of reports listed in this issue from: Washington Geology Library Washington Department of Natural Resources Division of Geology and Earth Resources 1111 Washington Street SE, MS 47007 Olympia, WA 98504-7007 360/902-1473; fax: 360/902-1785 e-mail: [email protected] Back issues are available at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/tsuinfo/

The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of

NOAA, the Washington Department of Natural Resources, or other sponsors of

TsuInfo Alert.

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 2 (continued from page 1) However, there is a crucial difference be- records both mapping and discussion outcomes, tween ‘exposure,’ or physical proximity to a and compares the utility of each. hazard, and ‘vulnerability,’ which refers to a lack of ability to deal with a hazard’s effects (Bolin SUMMARY OF LITERATURE and Stanford, 1991). Often, vulnerability to dis- Disasters are not natural aster is heightened by demographic trends; those Disaster research as it is currently known with physical or mental disabilities, impover- began in 1975, when Gilbert F. White and ished people, and people who do not speak Eng- Eugene Haas published Assessment of Research lish, for example, do not experience the same ef- on Natural Hazards, a report on the nation’s haz- fects from disasters as the general population. ard resiliency. White and Haas pointed out that They are more likely to die in a disaster event researchers publishing on the subject prior to that and less likely to recover after one (Blaikie et al., time were primarily physical scientists (seis- 1994, Wisner, 1998, Morrow, 1999, Fothergill et mologists, geologists, etc.) and engineers. This al., 1999, Mileti, 1999, Klineberg, 2002). The research emphasis defined hazards as a function broad categories of those with fewer “human or of the physical world; attempts to lessen risk personal resources (such as education), family were primarily structural and/or technological in and social resources (such as networks of reci- nature, and little attention was given to the procity) and political resources (such as power social, political, and economic effects of natural and autonomy)” (Morrow, 1999) are useful for disasters. identifying the variety of ways in which vul- Since White and Haas published their as- nerability is incurred. sessment, many researchers have focused ex- As a follow-up to White and Haas’s 1975 plicitly on the social construction of disaster and assessment, Dennis Mileti and a number of other vulnerability, noting that the demographics are researchers collaborated to complete a second an important indicator of everything from evacu- assessment of the state of mitigation work in the ation compliance during an event to successful United States. They found that, despite research long-term recovery after one. Many researchers describing its importance, in practice, demo- have written that, while hazards themselves may graphic differences still play a minimal role in be natural in origin (storms, earthquakes, etc.) the mitigation planning process. The issue of the disasters that result from these hazards are differential vulnerability is not likely to disap- primarily human-caused. People have devel- pear without specific intervention; in fact, it is oped towns and cities in hazard-prone locations, likely to become more pronounced. As Mileti and are ill equipped to deal with hazards when points out, they do occur. Vulnerability is therefore deter- “The socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic mined by social, economic, and political pro- composition of the United States is not cesses as much as by the hazard itself, though static. The number of poor is on the this important aspect is rarely considered in vul- rise, and the nation is becoming more nerability analyses (Bolin and Stanford, 1991, racially and ethnically diverse. Income Blaikie et al., 1994, Varley, 1994, Mitchell, disparity… continues to grow in almost 1998, Uitto, 1998, Wisner, 1998, Fothergill et every state. The process is strongest and al., 1999, Mileti, 1999, Morrow, 1999, Steinberg, fastest along the nation’s coasts and in 2000, Klineberg, 2002). major urban areas—the very places that In some cases, increased vulnerability will face more natural disasters in the among populations is a simple function of where future,” (p. 124-5, 1999). and how building occurs. As more and more people crowd into smaller places, many of which The social vulnerability paradigm are hazard-prone, larger-scale disasters will oc- The basic assumption of those researchers cur (WHO, 1999, Steinberg, 2000, Mileti, 1999, who study the connection between socio-demo- Cannon, 1994). Loss resulting from disaster, in graphics and vulnerability (what one writer has fact, has been on the rise for the past several termed “the social vulnerability paradigm”) is decades, and current patterns of unsustainable that vulnerability reduction is a public good that, development seem to suggest a continuation of in the past, has not been provided equally to all. this trend (Cochrane, 1975, Blaikie et al., 1994, While much of this research has considered in- Uitto, 1998, Mileti, 1999, Boyce, 2000, Stein- ternational communities, many are also applying berg, 2000, Klineberg, 2002). the concepts to communities in the United States.

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 3 Both exposure to hazards and reduced ca- each approach. Recommendations for commun- pacity to cope and recover will cause increased ities and for policy changes result from analysis vulnerability. Lack of access to services and of findings. lack of resources will both increase exposure to hazards and reduce capacity to respond to them. Mapping findings Vulnerability is therefore intricately tied to the All maps are printed in full-color on page resources one can access, leading to unmet needs 21. [See note at end of article] A longer version in every stage of emergency management. These of this paper includes a risk assessment produced unmet needs result from a combination of pre- using the maps and results in specific mitigation existing social inequalities and inadequate insti- measures that target the county’s refugee popu- tutionalized responses to disasters once they lations (Juntunen, 2004). Discussion here is lim- occur (Blaikie et al., 1994, Bolin and Stanford, ited to the process of creating the maps and to 1998). Because there is unequal access to op- their potential utility for other communities. The portunity in pre-existing patterns of community focus group findings and conclusions are dis- settlement, and unequal exposure to risk due to cussed in whole. the location of development, some people are inherently more vulnerable to disasters than Mapping discussion others. The findings from the mapping section high- In the U.S., individual households are ex- light both the strengths and the weaknesses of pected to use private resources to prepare for, using GIS analysis and maps as a planning tool respond to and, to a large extent, recover from for socially vulnerable populations. disasters. This expectation means that house- holds living in poverty are disadvantaged when Strengths confronting hazards. A number of other popu- Perhaps most importantly, mapping vul- lations have also been shown to experience nerable populations allows for an easy com- greater effects from disasters. They include parison of the physical location of their neigh- elderly, ethnic minorities, homeless, disabled, borhoods with the area of impact from specific women and female-headed households, chil- hazards. Data defining the impact of hazards are dren, renters, and those who live in rural areas. continually improving, and are nearly exclusive- ly represented in map format. If communities Summary of methods choose to include vulnerable populations in their The question behind this research is: How mitigation plans, locating them on maps is there- should communities address social vulnerability fore quite important for the completion of accu- using the existing tool of the hazard mitigation rate and consistent risk assessments. planning process? Using a case study of refu- From a planning perspective, maps are also gees in Clark County, Washington, the project extremely useful because they provide a solid explores the following two possible approaches: fact base for mitigation action items in a visually 1. The project maps one vulnerable popula- appealing manner. Maps are probably the best tion (refugees), and overlays that layer with tool available for representing spatial data; they hazard maps in a traditional risk assessment are easily understandable and intuitive for most process as part of a natural hazard mitiga- users. For those reasons, information presented tion plan. Maps are then used to determine in maps can be more persuasive than even the mitigation strategies. most eloquently written documents. This could 2. The project also tests the viability of a more be necessary to get buy-in from the community collaborative approach to mitigating for (including agency leads and decision makers) on vulnerable populations. A focus group that mitigation strategies that deal specifically with included social service providers and emer- vulnerable populations. gency response/mitigation professionals The maps from this section also produced was used to test the enthusiasm for and use- some very interesting and useful findings about fulness of a collaborative approach. Focus the general condition of refugee housing and, im- group participants discussed causal factors portantly, allowed for the quantification of these and brainstormed locally appropriate, im- results. The ability to quantify the difference in plementable mitigation strategies that target vulnerability between the population in question vulnerable populations. and the general population could be the crucially The project records both mapping and dis- important justification for the allocation of cussion outcomes, and compares the utility of

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 4 mitigation resources toward vulnerable popu- Management Act of 2000 (DMA2K) requires lations. that all communities complete hazard mitigation Maps can help to target limited resources plans that meet a laundry list of requirements for toward those neighborhoods that truly need miti- risk assessments, plan monitoring and updating, gation, regardless of the presence of a specific hazard profiling, etc. None of those require- vulnerable population. In this case study for ments include the consideration of vulnerable example, the Fruit Valley neighborhood is populations. Many jurisdictions are struggling to clearly at risk from multiple hazards and is also, meet even the basic requirements of DMA2K, as a whole, less well off than the remainder of and do not have the time, staff resources, or the city. Residents of this neighborhood, refugee funding to create maps of socially vulnerable or not, are not likely to have the resources neces- populations. sary to structurally retrofit their homes or even In additional to the difficulties of creating maintain a 72 hour supply of food, water, medi- accurate maps, there is the question of how ef- cation, etc. A community that is truly concerned fective they will be once they are created. The about reducing loss might target this neighbor- maps in this case study clearly support the hy- hood to assure that mitigation resources are pothesis that refugee neighborhoods are vulner- equitably distributed to reduce overall loss. able to hazards, define which hazards are most In short, once they have been produced, likely to cause problems for which neighbor- maps are a very useful planning tool that might hoods, and even provide some demographic in- even be necessary for communities interested in formation about the neighborhoods as a whole. including socially vulnerable populations in However, the maps themselves won’t actually their mitigation plans. assure that any mitigation occurs. All that maps can do is make the case that mitigation is neces- Weaknesses sary. It will take the commitment of people and Many of the weaknesses of using mapping resources on the ground to make a difference. as a tool relate to the difficulties of finding data This comes back to the central question: are ju- and the limitations of that data once it has been risdictional resources better spent attempting to produced. Finding specific locational informa- make accurate maps or working to actually miti- tion for subsets of the population is difficult for gate against hazards? several reasons, including confidentiality of records, inappropriateness of scale (i.e. city-wide Focus group findings data rather an block-level data), and lack of spe- This section reports findings resulting from cificity in demographics. If an acceptable set of focused discussion among experts in the fields of data is found, it will only remain accurate as long refugee service provision and emergency man- as the neighborhood remains stable. Given the agement. The focus group, held on June 24, length of time that most mitigation planning pro- 2003, included representatives from several so- cesses require, the data set will be out of date cial service agencies that provide relocation as- before the plan is even adopted. These difficult- sistance to refugee populations as well as emer- ties are very likely to be generalizable to other gency management professionals from Clark socially vulnerable groups, such as minorities or Regional Emergency Services Agency (CRESA) the elderly. and the American Red Cross. The objectives of These data limitations also compromise the focus group were to define special needs of some of the benefits gained through mapping. refugees that might impact their ability to pre- For example, quantifying percentages of popu- pare for, respond to, and recover from disaster lations as risk to particular disasters is a much events; identify data sources for the mapping less useful activity if the data defining that popu- portion of the project; and discuss mitigation ini- lation is unreliable. Unless the data is good, the tiatives specific to refugee populations. maps are not adequate planning tools. Another very important consideration is the Summary of major findings resource requirements crucial for the completion In general, there was strong consensus of maps. Unless jurisdictions have access to GIS among meeting attendees that there is a need for software, data, and expertise, maps like the ones improved outreach to refugee communities. in this project may be prohibitively expensive to • Type of housing and other socio-economic create. Additionally, their production requires factors place refugee communities at risk large amounts of what might be the scarcest of from hazards. all organizational resources: time. The Disaster

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 5 • Very little appropriate data is available to coordinate response if a major event (such spatially locate refugee populations. as an earthquake) were to occur. • Need exists for improved collaboration • Everyone agreed that a larger meeting that among CRESA, service providers, Red included representatives from all of the refu- Cross, and other emergency response and gee resettlement agencies in the county mitigation planning professionals. would be an important next step. They could • CRESA is logical lead agency for instigating form a task force that would develop educa- this collaboration. tional materials and discuss ways to present • There is a need for preparedness materials in the information without overwhelming refu- Russian and perhaps Vietnamese. The ma- gees who have just arrived in this country terials already exist, but should be translated and have many pressing needs. into other languages. Red Cross does not currently have materials translated into ei- Focus group discussion ther of these languages. Picture manuals The findings from the focus group highlight could be included and/or incorporated with both the strengths and weaknesses of a collab- the Russian language materials. orative approach to mitigation for socially vul- • Participants suggested a larger meeting in- nerable populations. This section will discuss cluding more service providers and emer- the implication of these findings for mitigation gency preparedness officials, perhaps in- planning in general. cluding fire and police as well, as a place to begin to really mitigate against disasters for Strengths refugee populations. The real strength of a collaborative approach Given the enthusiastic agreement between to mitigation for socially vulnerable populations emergency management professionals and ser- is two-fold: it involves the people who know the vice provider groups that it is important to in- populations and the potential hazard impacts clude Clark County’s significant refugee popu- best, and it’s comparatively inexpensive to im- lation when mitigating against hazards, the focus plement. This focus group shows that the col- group concluded with a discussion of appropriate lective knowledge and energy of service pro- next steps. This discussion was very animated viders and emergency managers put toward the and needed very little direction. Without prompt- goal of mitigation can accomplish the actual ing from the facilitator, the group quickly came work of designing and implementing population- up with a number of mitigation ideas: appropriate mitigation strategies. Perhaps most • The service providers in the group de- notably, the group was able to identify issues scribed the orientation process that they that are currently hindering mitigation for refgee have organized for newly-arrived refugees, populations, and begin to come up with solu- and invited CRESA and/or the Red Cross to tions. In one and one-half hours, they came up put together a presentation or packet of ma- with several low or no cost measures, including terials that could be distributed to describe finding refugee volunteers to translate materials hazards in the area and explain some of the into needed languages, and training service pro- simple mitigation projects that might be un- viders on basic in-home mitigation against earth- dertaken in the home. quakes (strapping water heaters to the wall, etc.) • Service providers asked if they could be so that they can teach new arrivals about the nec- trained to do some basic mitigation projects, essity of mitigation when they are first moving so that as they are helping refugees move into their new homes. This is a way to actually into their new homes, they can help make get things done. sure that their homes are as safe as possible. The focus group also provided insight into the population itself. Service providers were • The representative from Red Cross men- tioned that they do not currently have edu- able to describe neighborhoods and discuss hindrances with emergency response profes- cational materials available that have been sionals that come from a knowledge of the popu- translated into Vietnamese or Russian , and lation that emergency response professionals some of the refuges could help with the simply do not have. The list of capabilities that translation. the service providers described was particularly • The Red Cross representative also men- robust and would be useful in making a long- tioned that they could use the help of Rus- term plan for assisting refugee populations. sian and/or Vietnamese speakers to help

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 6 Including service providers in planning pro- as this one is very difficult to analyze in this cesses can have another added benefit for juris- way. How can you quantify the benefit that will dictions: increased public participation. This is result from the translation of brochures into Rus- beneficial for jurisdictions not just because it sian? How much does it cost to coordinate an meets a FEMA planning requirement, but also on-going collaborative effort? because it raised awareness of risk among the It is very important to note, however, that population in general and ultimately leads to collaborative approaches do no have to be in- mitigation plans that more accurately reflect the cluded in mitigation plans in order to be success- needs of the community as a whole. fully implemented and effect change for socially vulnerable populations. The key requirements Weaknesses for success are the commitment of service pro- Unless there is a convening body, the coor- viders and mitigation professionals, and the re- dination of such a collaborative group may be sources necessary to coordinate the efforts of this difficult for communities. Some person or or- group of people. The Clark County focus group ganization must own the collaborative process, showed that the commitment is certainly there, to organize regular meetings and to follow up on and even in a short discussion, the group brain- work tasks that the group designates. In many stormed a good number of resources as well. communities, the emergency services agency is a natural home for the collaborative body, but Conclusions & recommendation some smaller communities may not have a miti- Overall, this project emphasizes that com- gation officer (though Clark County does). Ded- munities can take either approach described in icating staff hours to collaboration could be a this research to include vulnerable populations difficulty. when mitigating against and preparing for dis- One key difficulty with using this approach asters. Depending on the resources available and exclusively is that it is difficult to write it into a the community itself, that approach can be sim- formal, FEMA-approved mitigation plan. Under ple and inexpensive or involved and technically the current system, mitigation plans prioritize complex. Either way, some benefit will be funding for mitigation projects; any projects that gained. aren’t listed in the plan are unlikely to receive Focusing on socially vulnerable populations federal or even local dollars for implementation. is important for local communities for a variety Collaborative strategies that target vulnerable of reasons. In many ways, the issue at stake is populations are outside of the scope of FEMA one of social justice; responsible governance and requirements, and, additionally, such ideas may ethical planning require a commitment to the fair be foreign to the emergency managers who tend allocation of resources and the protection of to write mitigation plans. Without a local cham- those portions of population that most need it. pion, it is unlikely that collaborative approaches Natural hazard mitigation plans can be thought will be even considered for inclusion in local of as a way to prioritize mitigation resources. plans. Each mitigation project that a plan recommends Including such approaches in a mitigation is competing against other projects for funding. plan will be further complicated because, like Including socially vulnerable populations in such any plan that will be formally adopted by a mitigation plans is a step in the direction of as- jurisdiction, a mitigation plan must be based in suring that resources are allocated fairly. best available science. The need for collabor- Perhaps a more pragmatic reason to consider ation is difficult to justify without very specific such populations, though, is that it may save ju- information about the population in question. risdictions money in the long run. Past research Communities, decision makers, and public agen- has clearly pointed out that certain populations cies will want to know that there is a reason to are more likely to experience loss in disasters; single out such groups if they are to agree to pri- targeting those homes for mitigation means that, oritize them for mitigation: this typically means overall, the community fares better during the numbers, maps and a solid argument. recovery phase. Additionally, the same popula- Even if such approaches are included, they tions that experience greater loss are more likely may fall to the bottom of the prioritization list to access social services and to need additional when funding does become available. FEMA public assistance after a disaster if their homes uses a very prescribed cost-benefit analysis to and/or jobs are impacted. Since post-disaster determine which projects should receive federal federal assistance is generally available only for grant funding, and a collaborative process such infrastructure repairs and not such community-

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 7 born expenses as increased numbers of welfare volved in planning processes. Because the maps users, pre-disaster mitigation could reduce some allow them to see their vulnerability to hazards, of the budgetary strain that communities face they can become an important community organ- when rebuilding their social infrastructure. izing tool for bringing individuals together This research has sought to discover the best around the issue of their own safety. Research- method of arriving at mitigation strategies that ers interested in environmental justice have seen target socially vulnerable populations. Since the impoverished communities come together social aspect of hazards is almost completely ab- around public health issues resulting from pollu- sent from the current rules and regulations that tion or noxious land uses (land fills, etc.) near require and guide mitigation planning, inclusion their neighborhoods; in those cases, their vul- of vulnerable populations will require a commit- nerability was obvious. They could see and ment to seeking out and hearing voices that are smell the pollution, which is directly connected typically left out of planning processes. From a to increased incidence of such diseases as asth- jurisdictional standpoint, the question is centered ma. In this case, the area of impact from an in the overarching goal of their specific planning earthquake or potential toxic release area is not process. If they are interested primarily in adopt- readily visible, and its effects are often not com- ing a FEMA approved plan that meets federal pletely known. It is therefore more difficult for a criteria, there is really no incentive to include so- group of people to come together and focus on cially vulnerable populations. However, if their reducing loss from hazards. Maps help in this goal is to create a more disaster resilient and sus- effort, because they visually represent a com- tainable community, the question of this research munity’s increased vulnerability. How are juris- should be absolutely central to their planning dictional resources best spent then, on expensive process. yet very persuasive maps that may or may not Overall, the type of demographic informa- accomplish any actual mitigation, or on collab- tion that resulted from each method was quite orative efforts between service providers and similar. While the focus group participants said emergency managers that may accomplish miti- that refugees tend to live in poorer neighbor- gation but can’t bring any federal dollars? hoods and older houses, the GIS method re- Luckily, the two approaches are not mutu- vealed how much poorer and how much older. ally exclusive; in fact, even within the confines The completion of many of the most simple and of this case study, the two supported and im- effective mitigation projects doesn’t require us to proved each other’s results. The maps could not know “how much;” it requires only that people have been created without input from focus committed to reducing loss for the community as group participants, and the numbers from the a whole problem-solve and work together to im- maps supported the discussion that arose among plement basic projects. If the goal is to actually service providers in the focus group. In an ideal complete mitigation projects for vulnerable pop- world, communities would undertake a combin- ulations, the collaboration between service pro- ation approach that includes maps of vulnerable viders and mitigation planners is crucial. This populations and a set of recommendations within cost-effective method actually gets things done their hazard mitigation plan that specifically tar- and can help to meet the letter of the law by pro- get them. They would simultaneously seek to viding meaningful public participation in the meaningfully involve service providers in the mitigation planning process. planning process and engage them directly in The real benefit of maps, on the other hand, mitigation implementation. is that, to the extent that their data is accurate, That having been said, most communities they result in the type of quantifiable, visually can probably successfully mitigate for vulnerable understandable results that are necessary to jus- populations without maps of their spatial loca- tify policy decisions. A map can show at a tions or even any mention of them in their miti- glance that a neighborhood is in a liquefaction gation plans. The Clark County focus group zone and completely surrounded by potential revealed great enthusiasm for collaboration and toxic release hazards (as is the case in Vancou- for mitigation. Given the mission of most emer- ver). This is tangible motivation for decision gency management agencies “to protect life and makers to target the area for mitigation. It also property,” it makes sense for them to invest the greatly simplifies the analysis of vulnerability to comparatively minimal time and resources to co- specific hazards. Perhaps more importantly, ordinate occasional meetings to keep the lines of maps are also powerful motivation for the com- communication open between service providers munity members themselves to become in- and mitigation planners. If community resources

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 8 are so limited as to preclude mapping, collab- mitigation plans (November, 2004). One of oration becomes even more important. the requirements for that plan is that it in- One further consideration is the central im- cludes a plan maintenance and update portance of response and recovery efforts for schedule. These update periods, which typ- socially vulnerable populations. Though this ically occur on a five year cycle, would be research deals primarily with mitigation activ- ideal times to include socially vulnerable ities, vulnerability in this case results from a lack populations. of ability to prepare for and respond to disasters. 3. One of the most efficient ways to do this is In this situation, providing preparation and re- to include service providers on hazard miti- sponse education and assistance, though not a gation steering committees and other deci- traditional ‘mitigation’ activity, may be a more sion-making bodies that deal with prepar- appropriate place to being to reduce future loss. ation for and response to disasters. Even One community level program that deals without maps, service providers can advo- with preparedness and response is the Commun- cate for projects in appropriate neighbor- ity Emergency Response Team (CERT) Pro- hoods or for educational programs that tar- gram. This program, active in the City of Van- get the populations with whom they work. couver and in Clark County in general, educates This will additionally constitute meaningful people about disaster preparedness for hazards public involvement in the planning process that may impact their area and trains them in that intentionally seeks out underrepresented basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, groups for inclusion. basic search and rescue, team organization, and 4. If the resources and that data are available, first aid. Using the training learned in the class- maps are very useful. They may even be room and during exercises, CERT members can necessary if federal funding is sought for assist others in their neighborhood following an mitigation projects that target socially vul- event if professional responders are not immedi- nerable populations. Maps create a more ately available to help. CERT members also are complete vision of vulnerability for the com- encouraged to support emergency response agen- munity as a whole, and provide powerful cies by taking a more active role in emergency justification for allocating resources to un- preparedness projects in their community, a der-served neighborhoods. natural lead in to involvement in mitigation plan- 5. Emergency management agencies should be ning processes. CERT requires a partnership be- connecting with social service providers, tween community members, local government, even if not as part of a formal collaborative emergency management, and response agencies. body. Service providers can distribute edu- In many ways, the program is a model of the sort cational materials to groups that might not of collaborative process recommended through otherwise have access to it, and be important this research, though focused on response and conduits for response and recovery informa- preparation rather than mitigation. Given the tion. lack of resources available, it is particularly im- 6. Collaborative groups that include service portant that CERT remain active in lower income providers and emergency managers can be or otherwise socially vulnerable neighborhoods. an extremely effective means of creating and The following recommendations for com- implementing community-appropriate, inex- munities based upon the findings of this case pensive mitigation strategies. It would be study, provide some guidance for accounting for well within the mission of most emergency socially vulnerable populations both in formal management agencies to provide outreach to mitigation plans and in general community out- service providers. These agencies should reach. dedicate staff hours to the coordination and maintenance of collaborative groups to as- Recommendations to communities sure their sustainability over time. Another 1. All aspects of a community, including infra- model is embodied in Oregon’s approach to structure and social make-up, should be con- hazard mitigation. The Partners for Disaster sidered when planning for a disaster resilient Resistance: Oregon Showcase State program community. Mitigation planners should be (PDR) provides a comprehensive framework thinking about vulnerable populations when for government and the private sector to col- coordinating planning processes. laboratively prepare for and minimize the 2. Most communities in the nation were risk and impact of natural hazards. Part of focused on meeting FEMA’s deadline for that preparation includes the provision of

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 9 mitigation training for local communities in tion describes the key players who should be the process of creating their hazard mitiga- involved (decision makers, long-range plan- tion plans. PDR includes the importance of ners, neighborhood associations, etc.) but considering vulnerable populations in their does not specify underserved populations or risk assessment training; this has resulted in anyone who represents them. If the “How- at least one Oregon community (the city of To” series explicitly described the need for Medford) creating maps of vulnerable popu- including these voices in the public process lations and mitigation measures that specif- and outlined methods for doing so, com- ically address their special situations. Train- munities would be much more likely to take ings like this greatly increase the likelihood these issues into consideration when writing that communities will consider vulnerable their plans even if they aren’t specifically re- populations. quired to do so. The “broad public partici- 7. Community based programs that deal with pation” requirement should be defined as in- response and preparedness (such as CERT) cluding traditionally underrepresented voic- should be encouraged in underserved areas. es as well as key stakeholders and decision- These will also lead to increased community makers. disaster resilience and will involve commun- ity members in disaster planning. Effective Citations response and prepared-ness plans will in- Alesch, Daniel J. “What Small Businesses and crease the likelihood of effective mitigation Municipalities Need to Know About Finan- in the future. cial Survival Following an Extreme Event: Lessons From a Dozen Disasters.” Partners Additional recommendations in Emergency Preparedness Conference, 1. The cost-benefit formula that FEMA cur- Bellevue, Washington. April 22-23, 2003. rently utilizes undervalues important mitiga- Blaikie, Piers, Terry Cannon, Ian Davis, and Ben tion projects that are non-structural in na- Wisner. At Risk: Natural Hazards, People’s ture. This means that mitigation projects Vulnerability, and Disasters. NY: Rout- that are structural (such as dikes and seismic ledge, 1994. retrofits) are more likely to receive funding Bolin, Robert. Household and Community Re- than mitigation measures such as the col- covery After Earthquakes. Program on En- laborative approach recommended here. vironment and Behavior, Monograph No. This keeps communities from receiving 56. Institute of Behavioral Science, Uni- funding for projects that would increase versity of Colorado, 1993. their overall resilience. The cost-benefit Bolin, Robert. “Post Disaster Sheltering and formula should be reassessed at the federal Housing,” Disasters, Collective Behavior, level. One potential solution is to set aside and Social Organization, Ed. Russell Dynes some federal money for structural projects and Kathleen Tierney. Newark: University and assess them using the current cost- of Delaware Press, 1994. benefit formula, and to set aside other funds Bolin, Robert and Patricia Bolton. Race, Reli- for other strategies, such as collaboration, gion, and Ethnicity in Disaster Recovery. that focus on community capacity building Program on Environment and Behavior, 2. Currently, FEMA recommends that com- Monograph No. 42. Institute of Behavioral munities consider populations with differing Science, University of Colorado, 1986. abilities in natural hazard mitigation plans, Bolin, Robert and Lois Stanford. “The North- but does not require it or provide any re- ridge Earthquake: Community-based sources for doing so. One simple way for Approaches to Unmet Recovery Needs,” FEMA to more strongly encourage com- Disasters 22 (1): 21-38, 1998. munities to include vulnerable populations Bolin, Robert and Lois Stanford. “Shelter, Hous- without further requirements is to update ing and Recovery: A Comparison of U.S. and improve their “How-To” series. Disasters.” Disasters. 15 (1): 24-34, 1991. [Editor’s Note: Boyce, James K. “Let Them Eat Risk? Wealth, http://www.fema.gov/fima/resources.shtm] Rights, and Disaster Vulnerability.” This step-by-step manual addresses all as- Disasters 24 (3): 254-21, 2000. pects of the planning process, providing Cannon, Terry. “Vulnerability Analysis and the resources and recommendations for im- Explanation of ‘Natural’ Disasters,” proving plans. The public participation sec- Disasters, Development and Environment.

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 10 Ed. Ann Varley. New York: John Wiley & Editor’s Note: There are six colored maps (2.25 Sons, 1994. x 3.25 inches each) that appear in the original Cochrane, Harold C. Natural Hazards and their print article that TsuInfo Alert has not included. Distributive Effects. Springfield, VA, Na- Contact me (see page 2) for a photocopy. The tional Technical Information Service, 1975. maps are: Drabek, Thomas E. Human System Responses Vancouver Refugee Neighborhoods to Disaster: An Inventory of Sociological Flood Problem Area Findings. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1986. Earthquake Vulnerability Dynes, Russell R. and Kathleen J. Tierney, eds. Hazardous Material Vulnerability Disasters, Collective Behavior, and Social Flood Vulnerability Organization. Newark: University of Hazardous Materials Problem Area ♦ Delaware Press, 1994. Fitzpatrick, Colleen; Dennis Mileti. “Public Risk Communication,” Disasters, Collec- FEMA reorganizes to meet 21st century tive Behavior, and Social Organization, Ed. demands Russell Dynes and Kathleen Tierney. By: Simone Thigpen Newark: University of Delaware Press, On February 13, 2006, Homeland Security 1994. Secretary Michael Chertoff announced new goals Federal Emergency Management Institute. designed to tackle issues and shortcomings re- State and Local Mitigation Planning How- vealed by Hurricane Katrina. Secretary Chertoff To Guide: Understanding Your Risks. spoke to the National Emergency Management FEMA document 386-2, August, 2001. Association (NEMA) and outlined new plans to Fothergill, Alice, Enrique Maestas, JoAnne fortify the current structure of FEMA as it relates Dalington. “Race, Ethnicity and Disasters to preparation and response. in the U.S.: A Review of the Literature,” In his address he outlined areas that will be Disasters 23 (2): 156-174, 1999. improved to meet current and future demands as Juntunen, Lorelei. “Addressing Social Vulner- they relate to natural and man-made disasters and ability to Hazards,” Terminal Project. Uni- the improvement of relationships between Feder- versity of Oregon, Department of Planning, al, state, local and private sector entities. The Public Policy, and Management. June, 2004. four immediate areas tagged for improvement as Klineberg, Eric. Heatwave: A Social Autopsy of a direct result of events that took place during Disaster in Chicago. Chicago: University of and after Katrina are: Logistics, Claims Manage- Chicago Press, 2002. ment, Debris Removal, and Communications. Mileti, Dennis. Disasters by Design: A Re- Secretary Chertoff understands that DHS assessment of Natural Hazards in the U.S. and FEMA are in need of some internal improve- Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry Press, ments in the area of everyday operations before 1999. these agencies can focus on external issues with Mitchell, J. K. “Hazards in Changing Cities.” handling disasters. One internal area mentioned Applied Geography 18 (1): 7-16, 1998. is a need to integrate the incident command at Morrow, Betty Hearn. “Identifying and Map- DHS. According to Secretary Chertoff, the cur- ping Community Vulnerability.” Disasters rent design at DHS lacks a common operating 23 (1): 1-18, 1999. picture and a clear chain of command. Another Steinberg, Ted. Acts of God: The Unnatural internal issue focuses on improving operational History of Natural Disasters in America. capabilities with regards, in particular, to tech- NY: Oxford University Press, 2000. nology. The third area mentioned was meeting White, Gilbert F. and Eugene Haas. Assessment the needs of the FEMA employee by providing of Research on Natural Hazards. improved tools to support them in their mission. Cambridge, Mass. MIT Press, 1975. The four areas slated for immediate im- Wisner, Ben. “Marginality and Vulnerability: provement areas that will strengthen how DHS Why the Homeless Don’t ‘Count’ in and FEMA can accomplish their mission. The Disaster Preparations.” Applied Geog- first, Logistics, was lacking during and after the raphy 18 (1): 7-16, 1998. Katrina hurricane. FEMA was unable to track World Health Organization. Community Emer- shipments and manage the inventories of com- gency Preparedness: A Manual for Man- modities sent to relieve the Gulf Coast. A lo- agers and Policy Makers. Geneva, 1999. gistics supply chain will be established by work- ing with agencies like the Department of Trans-

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 11 portation who already has an established network Bay and Tacoma to Toke Point) have been re- of contacts to move items throughout the nation. ported to the Tsunami Bulletin Board by Dr. The second is the Claims Management that Alexander Rabinovich. No seismic events were handles registration and intake procedures for reported that could have generated any notice- disaster victims. The current process is overly able tsunami, and therefore the waves are burden-some and bureaucratic and is unable to ascribed to be of meteorological or atmospheric meet the heightened demands imposed by a origin, and most probably a manifestation of major disaster. An important aspect of this im- high-frequency irregularities in atmospheric provement will be the upgrading of FEMA’s pressure as the weather was calm that day. outdated information technology and computer Examination of the sea level records showed systems. that stations on both the open ocean and in the The third area is Debris Removal. Even six sheltered straits showed noticeable tsunami-like months after the Katrina disaster there are tons of oscillations. In particular, Tofino, Bamfield, pounds of debris left to be removed. As Secre- Winter Harbour off British Columbia, and Neah tary Chertoff points out, debris is one of the big- Bay and Toke Point in Washington are all ger hindrances to rebuilding and reconstructing located oceanside of the coast and are relatively homes and infrastructure. In the future, FEMA open to waves arriving from the open ocean. On will have pre-established contracts with debris the other hand, Patricia Bay, Vancouver and removal companies to ensure cost effective re- Point Atkinson in British Columbia, and Bella moval. Bella (mainland coast of Queen Charlotte The last area is Communications. Hurricane Sound), Port Angeles and Port Townsend (Juan Katrina’s ferocity was exacerbated by the lack of de Fuca Straits), Friday Harbor (San Juan Island established communications among Federal, be-tween Juan de Fuca Straits and the Strait of state and local partners. Because of this, situ- Georgia), Cherry Point (Strait of Georgia near ational awareness and shared information was US/Canada border), and Seattle and Tacoma near zero during the initial phases of the disaster. (Puget Sound) are all located in areas well-pro- The process of establishing reconnaissance teams tected from tsunami coming from the open from other Homeland Security agencies to in- ocean. The wave oscillations continued for ap- clude the Coast guard and Border Patrol is im- proximately 9-12 hours and had mainly irregular perative to improving the communications. (polychromatic) characters with dominant per- Secretary Chertoff hopes to be on the path to iods of 10 to 60 minutes. A very clear time shift improvement by the start of the next hurricane between oscillations observed at various sites season coming this May. suggests that the disturbance propagated from For more information please visit: north to south. http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=5 In explaining the phenomenon, it was re- 414 ported that Dr. Ivica Vilibic and others (J. From: Crisis and Emergency Management Geophys. Res., 2004, 109, C10001, Newsletter, v. 10, no. 2, March 2006 doi:10.1029/2004JC002279) have recently Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Manage- described destructive tsunami-like waves in the ment (The George Washington University) Adriatic Sea that were generated by an abrupt http://www.seas.gwu.edu/%7Eemse232/march20 disturbance in atmospheric pressure. Cata- 06_13.html ♦ strophic “rissaga waves,” generated mainly by internal gravity atmospheric waves, are well known for the inlets and bays of the Balearic Off northwest coast of North America, 9 Islands (e.g., Gomis et al., J. Geophys. Res., December 2005, 01:57 UTC – Rissaga, 1993, 98, 14437-14445; Garcies et al., J. meteorological tsunami? Geophys. Res., 1996, 101, 6453-6467; Summarized from Tsunami Bulletin Board post- Rabinovich and Monserrat, Nat. Haz., 1996, 12, ings between 14 and 23 December 2005 based on ini- 55-90 and 1998, 18, 27-55). tial data posting by Dr. Alexander Rabinovich, Insti- “Rissaga” is a local Catalan name (in Span- tute of Ocean Sciences (IOS), Sidney, B.C., Canada. ish, Resaca) for destructive atmospherically-in- From: Tsunami Newsletter, v. 37, no. 2, p. 13-14. duced seiches that have been observed in some Unusual sea level measurements on 9 inlets of the Catalan coast of Spain and first of December 2005 along the entire coast of British all, in Ciutadella Inlet, Menorca Islands, Baleares. Columbia (From Prince Rupert to Victoria, A number of papers have been written describing ~1000 km), and Washington State (from Neah and analyzing this phenomenon in Ciutadella

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 12 (e.g., Sebastian Monserrat and Rabinovich, Na- NOAA names Florida’s Indian Harbour tural Hazards, 1996, 13 (1), 55-90; Natural Haz- Beach the nation’s first TsunamiReady ards, 1998, 18(1), 27-55; and GRL, 1998, 25 community on the East Coast (12), 2197-2200). Because “rissaga” is probably July 7, 2005 — Officials from the NOAA the best known example of such phenomena, this National Weather Service today praised central term became popularly-used to describe similar Florida's Indian Harbour Beach for completing a oscillations in some other parts of the World set of rigorous criteria necessary to earn the dis- Ocean. There are, however, many other local tinction of being declared the first Tsunami- names. For example, catastrophic seiches in Ready community along the nation's East Coast. Nagasaki Bay, Japan, are known as “abiki” (e.g., "Indian Harbour Beach should take great Hibiya and Kajiura, JOSJ, 1982, 38 (3), 172- pride in having gone the extra mile to provide its 182) or “yota” in other Japan bays, as “mar- citizens with the measure of protection Tsunami rubbio” on the coast of West Sicily, and “mil- Ready affords," said Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, ghuba” on the coast of Malta. In New Zealand, USAF (Ret.), director of NOAA National Weath- Derek Goring reported that ports on the eastern er Service. "We are continuing to expand the na- seaboard are often affected by these waves (1 cm tion's tsunami detection, assessment and warning in height, 20+ min period), which they are call- system, but a timely warning is meaningless if ing rissaga rather than meteorological tsunami. our citizens don't know how to respond to it. The The generation mechanism is thought to be re- TsunamiReady program is designed to help en- lated to Proudman resonance resulting from low- sure that residents understand what actions to pressure systems propagating rapidly southward take. from the tropics over the contorted seafloor of While no community can be tsunami proof, the Kermadecs northeast of New Zealand, and to Indian Harbour Beach now has the means to date have caused the grounding of at least one oil minimize the threat to the public," said Bill tanker. Proenza, director of NOAA National Weather Dr. Rabinovich further noted that because Service's southern region. many local terms are describing the same phe- "A tsunami may not strike for many genera- nomena, it may be good for the international tions, but then again, it could happen tomorrow. community to consider adopting a general term I expect this city to be just the first in a long list independent of geographic location to describe of Tsunami-Ready communities along our East the oscillations. Nomitsu (1935) suggested the and Gulf coasts. As a nation with warm water term “meteorological tsunami,” and Dr. A. recreation and large coastal population centers, Defant has widely used this term in his book, we are compelled to be prepared." “Physical Oceanography” (1961). It was noted Located in Brevard County (one of 59 Storm that is was important to distinguish very clearly Ready counties in Florida), Indian Harbour Beach the difference between “meteorological tsuna- is situated between the Atlantic Ocean and Indi- mis” and storm surges, since the latter have per- an River Lagoon. Currently home to nearly 9,000 iods from several hours to several days, while citizens, it was established 50 years ago as a res- the former have the same periods as ordinary idential community in support of the growing tsunami waves (few minutes to two hours). He space industry at nearby Kennedy Space Center. further noted that tsunami catalogs often contain From: http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov a number of events described as “probably of Stories2005/c2470.htm ♦ meteorological origin.” ♦

***************** As of March 21, 2006, there were 1034 Storm-Ready Sites in 50 states: 543 Counties, [Correction: In the last issue we noted that Norfolk, 470 Communities, 12 Universities, 2 Indian Virginia was the first East Coast city to achieve the Nation, 5 Commercial Sites, 4 Military Sites; TsunamiReady designation. Re-reading the press and 27 TsunamiReady Sites in 7 states and 11 release, we see the distinction “first major East Coast city.” Indian Harbour Beach, Florida, however, was StormReady Supporters the first East Coast community to become Tsunami- From: Ready.] http://www.stormready.noaa.gov/communities.htm ♦

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 13 able. Therefore, it is very important that recon- naissance surveys be organized and carried out A complete list of TsunamiReady sites: quickly and thoroughly after each tsunami oc- Alaska: Homer, Kodiak, Seward, Sitka curs, to collect detailed data valuable for hazard California: Crescent City, Dana Point, University assessment, model validation, and other aspects of California at Santa Barbara of tsunami mitigation. In recent years, following Florida: Indian Harbour Beach each major destructive tsunami, a post-tsunami Hawaii: Hawaii County, Honolulu, Honolulu reconnaissance survey has been organized to County, Kauai County, Maui County make measurements of runups and inundation Oregon: Cannon Beach, Lincoln City, Coos limits and to collect associated data from eye- County, Manzanita, Nehalem, Rockaway Beach, witnesses such as the number of waves, arrival Tillamook, Wheeler. time of waves, and which wave was the largest. Virginia: Norfolk The surveys have been organized primarily on an Washington: Clallam County, Long Beach, ad-hoc basis by academic tsunami researchers, Ocean Shores, Pacific County, Quinault Indian with participants often gathered from several of Nation the ITSU member states. A Post-Tsunami Survey Field Guide (http://www.prh.noaa.gov/itic/) has been prepared by ITSU to help with preparations for surveys, to identify measurements and obser- Tsunami Glossary vations that should be taken, and to standardize N data collection methods for increased consisten-

cy and accuracy. Near-field or local tsunami….A tsunami from a nearby source, generally less than 200 km away. Probable maximum water level…..A hypo- A local tsunami is generated by a small earth- thetical water level (exclusive of wave runup quake, a landslide or a pyroclastic flow. from normal wind-generated waves) that might

result from the most severe combination of hy- O drometeorological, geoseismic and other geo- Overflow…..A flowing over, inundation. physical factors that is considered reasonably possible in the region involved, with each of P these factors considered as affecting the locality in a maximum manner. This level represents the Pacific-wide tsunami…..A tsunami capable of physical response of a body of water to maxi- widespread destruction, not only in the immedi- mum applied phenomena such as hurricanes, ate region of its generation, but across the entire moving squall lines, other cyclonic meteoro- Pacific Ocean. logical events, tsunamis, and astronomical tide combined with maximum probable ambient Paleotsunami…..Research on paleotsunamis, hydrological conditions such as wave level with events occurring prior to the historical record, virtually no risk of being exceeded. has recently been taking place in a few regions around the Pacific. This work is based primarily PTWC…..Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. on the collection and analysis of tsunami depos- PTWC is the headquarters of the operational its found in coastal areas, and other evidence re- Tsunami Warning System (TWS) in the Pacific lated to the uplift or subsidence associated with and works closely with other regional national nearby earthquakes. In one instance, the research centers in monitoring seismological and tidal has led to a new concern for the possible future stations and instruments around the Pacific occurrence of great earthquakes and tsunamis Ocean, to evaluate potentially tsunamigenic along the northwest coast of North America. In earthquakes. PTWC is operated by the United another instance, the record of tsunamis in the States National Weather Service Kuril-Kamchatka region is being extended much (http://www.nws.noaa.gov/pr/ptwc). ♦ further back in time. As work in this field con- tinues it may provide a significant amount of new information about part tsunamis to aid in the assessment of the tsunami hazard.

Post-tsunami survey…..Tsunamis are relatively rare events and most of their evidence is perish-

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 14 NEWS AHAB funding Washington’s 2006 special session approved 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations a significant expansion of the state’s All-Hazard On October 18, the president signed the Fis- Alert Broadcasting (AHAB) network along cal Year 2006 Homeland Security Appropria- Washington’s Pacific coastline. tions Act (Public Law 109-90), providing ap- The 2006 supplemental budget, which now proximately $31.9 billion for the U.S. Depart- awaits the signature of Gov. Chris Gregoire, ment of Home-land Security (DHS) and adopting would allocate $950,000 to install at least 20 many of the organizational changes proposed by AHAB loud-speaker systems. These 20 systems the department in July (see the September 2005 would be in addition to the 10 systems funded in Observer, p. 5). Among the appropriations, the the Fiscal Year 06 federal budget for the Nation- law provides $4 billion for a new Preparedness al Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Directorate (the president has nominated George Reflecting pre-session discussions on im- Foresman, former assistant to the governor of provements in both all-hazard and tsunami and Virginia for commonwealth preparedness, to alert warning for coastal residents, the governor lead this directorate), including: asked legislators to appropriate $450,000 to in- $550 million for formula-based grants; stall upwards of 10 AHAB systems. $400 million for law enforcement terrorism After the Senate budget had endorsed the prevention grants; governor’s plan, House budget writers doubled $1.15 billion for discretionary spending (in- the governor’s AHAB budget request, calling for cludes $765 million for high-threat, high-density the installation of as many as 20 loudspeaker urban areas); systems. A Senate-House Conference Com- $50 million for the Commercial Equipment mittee approved the House action. Direct Assistance Program; George Crawford, WEMD’s earthquake pro- $346.3 million for training, exercises, tech- gram manager, said a private contractor already nical assistance, and other programs; is selecting sites for the AHAB systems. He said $655 million for firefighter assistance grants; he hopes installation work can be completed by $185 million for Emergency Management the end of 2006. Performance Grants; He said the loudspeaker systems will be lo- $625.5 million for infrastructure protection cated in all four of the coastal counties—Clal- and information security; and lam, Jefferson, Grays Harbor and Pacific—and $44.9 million for the U.S. Fire Adminis- will be concentrated towards the most populated tration. beach and coast-line areas. For response and recovery programs and The AHAB systems, which are produced by activities, the Federal Emergency Management Federal Signal, currently can be activated by Agency will receive $2.6 billion, including: local officials as well as by the National Oceanic $204 million for preparedness, mitigation, and Atmospheric Administration. response, and recovery operations; From: Emergency Responder, January- $1.77 billion for disaster relief; February 2006, p. 4 $153 million for emergency food and shelter; National emergency responder credentialing $200 million for flood map modernization; system $50 million for the National Predisaster The development of a national credentialing Mitigation Fund; and system is a fundamental component of the Na- $34 million for the National Disaster Medi- tional Incident Management System (NIMS). cal System. According to NIMS, “credentialing involves pro- The appropriations act and the accompa- viding documentation that can authenticate and nying conference report (109-241), which con- verify the certification and identity of designated tains more details, are available in any federal re- incident managers and emergency responders” to pository library and on the Library of Congress ensure that response personnel “possess a mini- Web site at http://thomas.loc.gov/. mum common level of training, currency, exper- From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. ience, physical and medical fit-ness, and capa- 3, p. 10; or bility” for the roles they are tasked to fill. http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06d The NIMS Integration Center (NIC) initi- .html#dhs ated the development of a national credentialing system to help governments at all levels identify,

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 15 request, and dispatch qualified emergency re- the warning system: the evaluation and issurance sponders from other jurisdictions when needed. of the warning message by tsunami warning Such a system will ensure that personnel re- centres, and the national and/or local response sources requested from another jurisdiction to and warning dissemination mechanism once a assist in a response operation are adequately warning is received by emergency authorities. trained and skilled. From: Tsunami Newsletter, v. 37, no. 2, p. The NIC will work with existing state, ter- 1-2. ritorial, and discipline-specific credentialing bodies toward national recognition for multi- Disaster office for Central America moves to jurisdictional response under mutual aid agree- Panama ments. To support this initiative, the NIC is using PAHO has moved its Disaster Program for working groups to identify job titles that should Central America from Costa Rica to Panama, be credentialed as well as the minimum qualifi- where several UN agencies and major NGOs cation, certification, training, education, licens- have regional disaster offices. For information ing, and physical fitness requirements for each on PAHO’s disaster preparedness and mitigation position. Working groups will represent incident activities in Central America, contact Dr. management, emergency medical services, fire/ Alejandro Santander at [email protected]; hazmat, law enforcement, medical and public phone (507) 317-0971; fax (507) 317-0600. health, public works, and search and rescue. For From: Disasters—Preparedness and more information, read the frequently asked Mitigation in the Americas, issue 102, Jan. 2006, questions at p. 2. http://www.fema.gov/pdf/nims/credent_faq.pdf or send an e-mail to NIMS-Integration- PAHO/WHO disaster videos now available in [email protected]. DVD format From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. The PAHO/WHO video library includes his- 3, p. 12; or toric footage and edited documentaries on many http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06d major disasters of the 1980s and 1990s as well as .html#dhs shows on topics such as disaster mitigation, the SUMA system and international health relief as- Exercise Pacific Wave ‘06 sistance. Now, most PAHO/WHO video pro- The Intergovernmental Coordination Group grams of the last 20 years have been converted to for the Pacific Tsunami Warning and Mitigation digital format and are available on DVD. Pro- System (ICG/PTWS) will be conducting its first grams such as Myths and Realities of Natural end-to-end Pacific-wide tsunami exercise for the Disasters, Volcanoes—Protecting the Public’s Pacific Ocean on 16-17 May 2006. Regional Health, The Earthquake in Mexico, and The and national tsunami warning systems in the Earthquake in El Salvador, in addition to many Pacific and globally must maintain a high level other titles, are still sought after for use in train- of readiness so as to be able to efficiently and ing and awareness programs. Consult the effectively act to provide for the public’s safety PAHO/WHO online publications catalog for a during fast-onset and rapidly-evolving natural list of available titles. disasters such as tsunamis. To maintain this high (See listing below for website URL.) state of operational readiness, and especially for From: Disasters—Preparedness and Mitiga- infrequent events such as tsunamis, emergency tion in the Americas, issue 102, Jan. 2006, p. 6. agencies should regularly practice their response procedures to ensure that vital communications National plan for tsunami risk reduction links work seamlessly and that agencies and re- In December, the White House released its sponse personnel know the roles that they will national tsunami risk reduction plan, Tsunami need to play during an actual event. Risk Reduction for the United States: A Frame- The exercise will place all Pacific Basin work for Action. Authored by a working group of countries into a Tsunami Warning that will re- the president’s National Science and Technology quire countries to practice its emergency re- Council in partnership with scientists and policy sponse decision-making for the arrival of a de- makers at local, state, and federal levels, it rec- structive Pacific-wide tsunami upon its shores, ognizes critical world-wide interdependencies, and depending upon the country, be conducted to especially for Earth observations, and notes the the step just prior to public notification. The opportunities for nations to work together to exercise will take focus on two components of reduce vulnerabilities.

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 16 The National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation of organizations experienced in education and Program (NTHMP), a partnership of federal children’s health, including the American Psych- agencies and coastal states, will execute the plan ological Association, American Red Cross, Na- by facilitating the following: tional Association of Elementary School Prin- • Develop standardized and coordinated cipals, National Association of School Psych- tsunami hazard and risk assessments for ologists, National Parent Teacher Association, all U.S. coastal regions National Center for Child Traumatic Stress, U.S. • Enhance tsunami forecast and warning Department of Education, and U.S. Department capabilities along the nation’s coastlines of Health and Human Services. • Ensure interoperability between the U.S. “Ready Kids” is the newest addition to the national system and other regional tsu- “Ready” campaign, a national public service ad- nami warning systems ertising campaign designed to educate and em- • Provide technical expertise and assis- power Americans to prepare for and respond to tance to facilitate development of in- emergencies. Find out more about the program ternational warning systems and meet Rex, the mountain lion mascot, and his • Promote development of model miti- family at http://www.ready.gov/kids/. gation measures and encourage com- From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. 4, p. munities to adopt construction, critical 5-6; also available at facilities protection, and land use plan- http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/mar06 ning practices to reduce the impact of c.html#ready future tsunamis Profile of the FEMA for Kids website - • Increase outreach to all communities at http://www.fema.gov/kids/index.htm risk to raise awareness, improve prepar- The FEMA for Kids website is designed to edness, and encourage the development teach children about FEMA and provide them a of tsunami response plans tools to learn more about what FEMA does and • Conduct an annual review of tsunami what they can do. The website is hosted by research and develop a strategic plan for Herman the Spokescrab and is designed to be U.S. tsunami research visually stimulating to kids with bright colors The framework is available for download at and animated graphics. http://sdr.gov/. For more information about the The website is broken down into several NTHMP, visit sections: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami-hazard/. • Ready Kids: Provides tools for kids and From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. parents to prepare and plan for a dis- 4, p. 5; also available at aster. The section includes quizzes, http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/mar06 games, facts and more. c.html#tsunami • Become a Disaster Action Kid: Pro-

vides the tools and checklists to assist DHS Wants kids to get ready! kids in preparing for disasters. It also The U.S. Department of Homeland Security provides children an opportunity to re- (DHS) and the Advertising Council have ceive a certificate of completion for go- launched “Ready Kids” to help parents and ing through the exercise. There also teachers educate children about emergencies. A links and information to various free- new Web site features games and puzzles as well bies that assist in the Become and Dis- as age-appropriate, step-by-step instructions on aster Action Kid process. what families can do to better prepare for emer- • The Disaster Area: This section pro- gencies and the role kids can play in that effort. vides graphics, animations and de- In-school materials developed by Scholastic Inc. scriptions of disasters that FEMA offer lessons that meet national standards for lan- supports. guage arts, social studies, and geography while • providing teachers and parents with a vehicle to Get Ready, Get Set . . . This section explain important emergency preparedness in- pro-vides various tools and short formation to children. articles that to help support children To ensure that program information is pre- there the preparation process. • sented in a way that is understandable and ap- About FEMA: Provides children a short propriate for kids, DHS consulted with a number description of FEMA at a reading level that they will understand describing

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 17 how FEMA helps individuals before ►[Editor’s note: to see the article about the West and after a disaster. Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center going to • Games and Quizzes: The title says it all. around-the-clock staffing, go to Nearly 2 dozen games or quizzes to http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2006/01/02/n ews/regional/087bb5eafe8e886e872570e80026a03c. help children learn about FEMA, prepar- txt] ation and readiness. • Disaster Connection, Kids to Kids: Art- Smart buildings to guide future first work and letters of disasters created by responders kids for other kids. The best response to a building emergency • What’s happen now? A state-by-state is a fast and informed one. To achieve these ob- guide of recently declared emergencies. jectives, the National Institute of Standards and • The Library. Links, pictures, maps, Technology (NIST) is working with the building books, videos, photos, etc. industry and the public safety and information The website also contains training guides technology communities to determine how “in- and other useful guides for parents and teachers telligent” building systems can be used by fire- to assist them in teaching children about disas- fighters, police, and other responders to accurate- ters and preparedness. Overall, the website is ly assess emergency conditions in real time. well-designed to help engage children in emer- NIST is working with industry to develop gency preparedness. The website is part of the standards to allow manufacturers to create kids.gov initiative. itelligent building systems that use various types By Mark Phillips of communication networks (including wireless From: Crisis and Emergency Management networks) to assist responders in assessing and Newsletter, v. 10, no. 2, March 2006 mitigating emergencies. The systems would send Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Manage- information, such as building floor plans and ment (The George Washington University) data from motion, heat, biochemical, and other http://www.seas.gwu.edu/%7Eemse232/march20 sensors and video cameras, directly to fire and 06_14.html police dispatchers who can then communicate detailed information about the scene to the re- USGS National Earthquake Center goes 24/7 sponders. Building sensor information includes The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Na- the status of a specific building’s mechanical tional Earthquake Center is strengthening its systems, elevators, lighting, security system, and operations with round-the-clock, on-site person- fire systems as well as the locations of building nel and a new seismic event processing system occupants and temperature and smoke conditions. that identifies, locates, and measures earth- NIST has released video presentations that quakes, cutting in half the time required to report demonstrate how an intelligent building response earthquake information. The system will become program would work. The videos outline team fully operational in March 2006. Other software efforts to create a system of interoperable data and hardware enhancements are also being imple- content and communications standards linking mented, including Prompt Assessment of Global responders with the building systems. Earthquakes for Response (PAGER), which is Information on the program and the down- designed to predict damage from major earth- loadable video presentations are available at quakes worldwide based on estimates of people http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/ibr/. and property exposed to potentially damaging From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. levels of ground motion. The system is being 3, p. 11-12; or developed as a tool for emergency relief organi- http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06d zations such as the U.S. Agency for International .html#dhs Development. Additionally, in January, the USGS debuted a new Web site and notification Shocked scientists find tsunami legacy: a dead service at http://earthquake.usgs.gov/. The site’s sea earthquake center section has information on the The Sumatra-Andaman earthquake/tsunami latest earthquakes, past earthquakes, and earth- created an ocean floor area with no signs of life. quake lists and statistics. “Normally, when you go to the bottom of From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. the sea anywhere and take a sample or look 4, p. 8; also available at around, there’s always something alive,” Profes- http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/mar06 sor O’Dor (Dalhousie University, Canada) said. c.html#ready “But five months after the earthquake, this entire

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 18 plain, created by the collapse of the cliff, was As soon as any print catalog is issued, it’s essentially devoid of life.” safe to assume it will quickly become outdated. The complete Sydney Morning Herald That is why the print catalog is published much article is online: less frequently and much more emphasis is http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/12/13/113 placed on the online Disaster Publications Cata- 4236063754.html log, which contain up-to-the-minute reviews of Submitted by Wayne Johnston all new materials. The Internet-based catalog has served users well for several years by offer- Officials to test Alaska tsunami warning ing full-text access to a wide variety of materials. system--"Live" warnings part of Tsunami However, as the number of publications grows Awareness Week and the scope of the collection broadens, it is be- The NOAA National Weather Service and coming more necessary to revamp the catalog Alaska's Division of Homeland Security and and improve its search engine. This process has Emergency Management, in cooperation with already begun and readers are invited to watch local emergency management offices and the for the new user-friendly e-catalog on our web- Alaska Broadcasters Association, will conduct a site (www.paho.org/disasters) in late March or statewide test of the tsunami warning communi- early April. The power of the Internet allows us cations system on March 29 at 9:45 a.m., Alaska to multiply and improve access to information. Standard Time. Live tsunami warning codes, We ask all disaster-related organizations to sup- rather than a test code, will be broadcast on radio port this effort by creating links to the online and television stations statewide. catalog or to specific documents on their own The test is part of Tsunami Awareness Week, websites. For more information, please write to proclaimed by Governor Frank Murkowski as [email protected]. March 26 - April 1. The week coincides with the From: Disasters—Preparedness and Mitiga- anniversary of the Great Alaskan Earthquake—a tion in the Americas, issue 102, Jan. 2006, p. 6. devastating 9.2 magnitude earthquake that trig- Catalog: gered deadly tsunamis in Alaska on Good Fri- http://publications.paho.org/english/2006_Cat_eng.pdf day, March 27, 1964. From: Science for a safer, stronger America http://www.myday.com.tw/guest/product.php?htt In the United States each year, natural haz- p://www.noaa.gov/index.html ards will cause hundreds of deaths and cost tens of billions of dollars in disaster aid, disruption of commerce, and destruction of homes and critical PUBLICATIONS infrastructure. This series of fact sheets will edu- cate citizens, emergency managers, and law- Disaster Publications Catalog makers on seven natural hazards facing the Na- With the publication of a new print edition tion – earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, land- of its Disaster Publications Catalog, PAHO/ slides, tsunamis, volcanoes, and wildfires -- and WHO renews its commitment to disseminating, show how USGS science helps mitigate disasters as widely as possible, information on the Organ- and build resilient communities. ization’s publications, training materials and other information resources on emergencies and FS 2005-3121. Hurricanes disasters. PAHO is nearing its 30th year of work- http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3121/ ing with Member States to prepare for and miti- FS 2005-3156. Landslides gate the effects of disasters on health. Access to http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2005/3156/ this type of information continues to have tre- FS 2006-3014. Volcanoes mendous technical and strategic value, both in http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3014/ terms of building capacity among the Region’s FS 2006-3015. Wildfires health professionals and by advancing political http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3015/ and institutional commitments to disaster re- FS 2006-3016 Earthquakes duction. The new English edition of the catalog http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3016/ will be ready by April 2006 and the Spanish FS 2006-3023. Tsunamis version will be ready in February. Both versions http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3023 have been up-dated to include all material pro- FS 2006-3026. Floods duced or revised in the last three years. http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3026

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 19 From: SILS Information Bulletin, Number: This updated edition of Natural Hazards 06-05 Hazard Fact Sheets, March 1, 2006 offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary anal- ysis of a multitude of natural hazards. The author Tsunami Escape Map Atlas of Long Beach describes and explains how hazards occur, exam- Peninsula, Southwest Washington ines prediction methods, considers recent and Pacific County Department of Public Works historical hazard events, and explores the social 300 Memorial Avenue, P O Box 66, South Bend, impact of such disasters. WA 98586; (360) 875-9368 From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. From: Proceedings of the Oregon Academy 4, p. 24. of Science, v. 42, p. 26. Edwards Disaster Recovery Directory, 2006 Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves—An 15th Edition. ISBN 0-9759662-2-7. 2005. independent Study to Assess the Future Savings 400 pp. $149.00. Available from Edwards In- from Mitigation Activities formation, PO Box 1600, Brookline, MA 02446; By the Multihazard Mitigation Council of (617) 264-2300, (800) 990-9936; e-mail: the National Institute of Building Sciences, [email protected]; December 2005. http://www.edwardsinformation.com/. The two-volume study report is available for This business-to-business directory is de- free download at signed to help businesses and organizations plan http://www.nibs.org/MMC/mmchome.html. for and cope with disaster by providing informa- To read an article about the study, “Mitigation tion for recovery services throughout the United generates savings of four to one and enhances States and Canada. Available in both hardcopy community resilience--MMC releases study on and on CD-ROM, the directory contains thou- savings from mitigation,” go to sands of vendor listings organized into more than http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/. 400 categories, such as data recovery, drying and dehumidification, smoke odor counteracting ser- Women’s Participation in Disaster Relief and vices, trauma counselors, salvage, emergency Recovery rentals, storm damage restoration, and disaster By Ayse Yonder. SEEDS No. 22. ISSN 073- planning software. 6833. 2005. 42 pp. Available free online from From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. the Population Council, One Dag Hammarskjold 4, p. 24. Plaza, New York, NY 10017; (212) 339-0500; e- mail: [email protected]; After the Tsunami: Human Rights of Vulner- http://www.popcouncil.org/pdfs/seeds/Seeds22.pdf. able Populations This publication features detailed case The East-West Center has published this studies from three earthquake-stricken areas in document related to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsu- India and Turkey that exemplify how low-in- nami. It is available from the East-West Center, come women who have lost everything can form 1601 East West Road, Honolulu, HI 96848; groups and become active participants in the (808) 944-7111; http://www.eastwestcenter.org/. relief and recovery process. It discusses how ISBN 0-9760677-1-4. 2005. 110 pp. Free. women became involved in housing, created Published in conjunction with the Human businesses, mobilized funds, and provided cru- Rights Center at the University of California, cial community services. It also examines the Berkeley, this report is based on interviews with roles that nongovernmental organizations and tsunami survivors, government officials, human government policy and procedures play in facil- rights activists, and aid workers in India, Indo- itating (or impeding) women’s involvement. nesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Thailand. It From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. concludes that survivors continue to suffer from 4, p. 24. inequities in aid distribution and sub-standard shelter and documents numerous violations of Natural Hazards human rights following the tsunami. The study By Edward Bryant. 2nd Edition. ISBN 0- recommends that governments in tsunami-af- 521-53743-6. 2005. 328 pp. $36.99. Available fected countries should commission an indepen- from Cambridge University Press, 100 Brook dent investigation of reports of inequities in aid Hill Drive, West Nyack, NY 10994; (845) 353- distribution; increase accountability and trans- 7500; e-mail: [email protected]; parency of aid providers; and develop mechan- http://www.cambridge.org/. isms that will enable tsunami survivors to

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 20 participate in reconstruction planning and im- Natural Disaster. The new version contains plementation. updated resources, including a more specific From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. focus on the Hurricane Katrina recovery, and 4, p. 26. new examples of recovery success stories. The document’s text was streamlined to make it Hope for Renewal: Photographs from easier to use and more practical for those manag- Indonesia after the Tsunami ing recovery decisions and activities on the By Marco Garcia, photographer. ISBN 978- ground. 0-86638-202-1. 2005. 52 pp. $19.95. The East- With funding from the Public Entity Risk West Center has published this document related Institute (PERI), the Center originally created the to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It is available handbook to communicate the idea that for ef- from the East-West Center, 1601 East West fecttive, long-term disaster recovery, commun- Road, Honolulu, HI 96848; (808) 944-7111; ities must incorporate as many principles of sus- http://www.eastwestcenter.org/. tainability—environmental quality, economic This book of photographs was published as vitality, quality of life, social equity, citizen par- a tribute to those who died during the Indian ticipation, and disaster resiliency—into their re- Ocean tsunami and to the survivors of the dis- covery processes as possible. The handbook is aster. It features color images from Aceh Prov- intended for local government officials and staff, ince in Indonesia and chronicles important stages state planners, activists, emergency management in the aftermath of the disaster, from rescue and professionals, disaster recovery experts, mitiga- recovery to the rebuilding of communities that tion specialists, and others who help commun- continues today. Also included is a first-hand ities recover from disaster. account of surviving the tsunami by a resident of The 2006 version of Holistic Disaster Banda Aceh. Recovery (140 pp., $35.00) is currently only From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. available from PERI, 11350 Random Hills Road, 4, p. 26. Fairfax, VA 22030; (703) 352-1846; e-mail: [email protected]; Voices of Hope: Adolescents and the Tsunami http://www.riskinstitute.org/. ISBN 92-806-3909-9. 2005. 40 pp. $10.00. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. Available free online from the United Nations 4, p. 27. Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Adolescent Devel- opment and Participation Unit, 3 UN Plaza, New Mitigation of Natural Hazards and Disaster York, NY 10017; e-mail: [email protected]; C. Emdad Haque, editor. ISBN 1-4020- http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_28137 3112-2. 2005. 240 pp. $99.00. Available from .html. Springer New York, 233 Spring Street, New Adolescents and young people have repeat- York, NY 10013; (212) 460-1500; e-mail: edly proven that they can provide innovative [email protected]; solutions in complex humanitarian crises. Soon http://www.springeronline.com/. after the December 2004 tsunami, they mobil- Written for researchers and policy makers in ized, helping to distribute aid, assisting with natural hazards studies, this book examines as- cleanup and rebuilding, and caring for those pects of prevention, mitigation, and management younger than themselves. Yet, their enthusiasm, of environmental hazards and disasters from an creativity, and energy are not fully utilized in re- international perspective. In light of the recent habilitation and development efforts. This publi- debate on climate change and the possible effects cation highlights the helpful, analytical, and of such a change upon increasing frequency and compassionate comments they made on magnitude of extreme environmental events, this UNICEF’s Voices of Youth Web site and states publication reviews various policy and response that it is time to listen to these young people and discourses. Several case studies from various engage them as key partners. countries and world regions depicting recent ex- From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. perience in mitigation policy and program de- 4, p. 26. velopment and implementation and establishing links between vulnerability and mitigation are Holistic Disaster Recovery (Updated) presented to provide further insights. The Natural Hazards Center has revised the From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no 2001 handbook Holistic Disaster Recovery: 3, p. 28; or Ideas for Building Local Sustainability after a

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 21 http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06i. preparedness planners; and public health and html hospital community leaders, among others, the guide outlines 13 essential components of an The Role of Science in Physical Natural Haz- effective community-based emergency manage- ard Assessment: Report to the UK Government ment planning process and provides multiple by the Natural Hazard Working Group planning strategies addressing each component. 2005. 44 pp. Available free online from the From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no Office of Science & Technology, Department of 3, p. 28; or Trade and Industry, 1 Victoria Street, London http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06i. SW1H 0ET, UK; 020 7215 3910; html http://www.ost.gov.uk/policy/bodies/nhwg/. The Natural Hazard Working Group was Catastrophic Event Prevention Planning established following the 2004 Indian Ocean ISBN 0-536-94155-6. 2005. 404 pp. ~$50.00. tsunami as an ad hoc advisory group to advise This textbook introduces the concepts of the prime minister on the mechanisms that could emergency and disaster management by using and should be established for the detection and examples of major and catastrophic disaster early warning of physical natural hazards. The scenarios and measures to mitigate and plan for group’s report makes three recommendations: them. The focus is on natural disasters. Topics establish an International Science Panel for include types of hazards/threats/disasters—un- Natural Hazard Assessment, explore the pos- derstanding risks; risk assessment/risk commun- sibility of extending the World Meteorological ication; risk management/risk mitigation; the Organization early warning system to cover four phases of emergency management; eval- other natural hazards; and increase commitment uating mitigation alternatives using cost benefit at the national and international level to prioritize analysis; govern-mental, private, and nonprofit national capacity building for natural hazard organizations response and preparedness activi- assessment. ties; disaster scenario exercises; and recovery From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no from disaster. 3, p. 28; or From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06i. 3, p. 29; or html http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06i. html Standing Together: An Emergency Planning Guide for America’s Communities Sharing and Reducing the Financial Risks of 2005. 114 pp. Available free online from the Future “Mega-Catastrophes” Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health- Robert E. Litan. Working Paper. 2005. 45 care Organizations, One Renaissance Boulevard, pp. Available free online from The Brookings Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181; (630) 792-5000; Institution, 1775 Massachusetts Avenue NW, http://www.jcaho.org/about+us/public+policy+in Washington, DC 20036; (202) 797-6000; e-mail: itiatives/planning_guide.pdf. [email protected]; This planning guide provides expert guid- http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/litan/20 ance on the emergency management planning 051111.htm. process that is applicable to small, rural, and Written in response to the devastating hur- suburban communities. Its goal is to remove ricane season of 2005, this essay examines two readiness barriers by providing all communities fundamental questions relating to how society with strategies, processes, and tools for coor- should prepare for and pay for future natural dinated emergency management planning. The disasters: how can the government best prevent target audience is local leaders, including elected or mitigate losses from future natural mega-cata- and appointed officials, health care providers and strophes in a cost-effective manner and given practitioners, public health leaders, and others that catastrophes, especially mega-catastrophes, who are responsible for initiating and coordi- will continue to occur, who should pay for the nating the emergency management planning damage, how, and when? The author argues that effort in towns, suburbs, and rural areas with the right policies, more can be done to mini- throughout the United States. Based on two mize future losses to efficiently and fairly dis- expert roundtable sessions that included rep- tribute the costs of those events. He concludes resentatives from federal, state, and local with a plan for addressing these issues by for- agencies; emergency responders; emergency

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 22 malizing the current de facto federal disaster http://www.protectingamerica.org/ insurance program. The mission of ProtectingAmerica is “to From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no raise awareness, educate the public and policy 3, p. 29; or makers, and offer solutions that will better pre- http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06i. pare and protect America from major catastrophe html in a sensible, cost-effective fashion.” The website features information on understanding risks, pre- paredness and mitigation, legislation, and more. WEBSITES From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. 4, p. 16. http://www.st.hirosaki- u.ac.jp/~tamao/Images/Fireofrice/Ina1.html http://www.readycampus.org/ Fire in the Haystacks, a picture story about Ready Campus is a partnership among Penn- tsunamis, by Tsunezuo Nakai, Lafcadio Hearn, sylvania’s colleges, universities, and communi- and Yokumo Koizumi: Hirosaki University, De- ties designed to strengthen preparation for and partment of Earth and Environmental Sciences response to regional or national emergencies by (English or Japanese). Grade level: K-5 using campus facilities, training campus volun- teers, and providing college students with ser- http://www.unisdr.org/eng/library/biblio/isdr- vice learning opportunities. Among the resources %20biblio-1-tsunami-09-2005.pdf is the 124-page Ready Campus Manual. ISDR Biblio 1—Tsunamis: Selected From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. bibliography on tsunamis: UN International 4, p. 16. Strategy for Disaster Reduction http://www.ready.gov/america/index.html http://www.fema.gov/fima/resources.shtm From the U.S. Department of Homeland Se- FEMA developed this series of mitigation curity, this page has links to multiple sites under planning "How-To" guides to assist States, three headings: Get a Kit, Make a Plan, and Be Tribes, and communities in enhancing their haz- Informed. The Get a Kit links are water and ard mitigation planning capabilities. These food, clean air, first aid kit, portable kit, supply guides are designed to provide the type of infor- checklists, and special needs items. The Make a mation state and local governments need to ini- Plan links are creating a family plan, deciding to tiate and maintain a planning process that will stay or go, at work and school, in a moving ve- result in safer communities. These guides are hicle, and in a high-rise building. The Be In- applicable to states and communities of various formed links include biological threat, chemical sizes and varying ranges of financial and tech- threat, explosions, and natural disasters. nical resources. http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/downloa http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,10 ds/disaster-report.pdf 82,0_239_,00.html In Caught in the Storm: The Impact of This American Red Cross Web Portal titled Natural Disasters on Women, the Global Fund “Get Prepared” encourages preparation at home, for Women shares learnings from direct grant at school, at work, and in the community and of- making to women’s rights groups during and after fers preparedness tips for a variety of disasters. emergency situations, highlighting how women From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. are disproportionately affected by disasters. 4, p. 16. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. http://www.opencrs.com/rpts/RL33174_20051 4, p. 17.

205.pdf http://www.seismic.ca.gov/pub/CSSC%2005- FEMA’s Community Disaster Loan Pro- 03%20Tsunami%20Findings.pdf gram, a Congressional Research Service report, The Tsunami Threat to California: Findings examines the Community Disaster Loan Pro- and Recommendations on Tsunami Hazards and gram, which assists local governments that ex- Risks is the result of an evaluation of tsunami perience revenue losses and/or increased munic- readiness in California by the State of California ipal operating expenses due to a presidentially Seismic Safety Commission’s Tsunami Safety declared major disaster. Committee. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. 4, p. 16. 4, p. 18.

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 23 http://www.tsunamispecialenvoy.org/pdf/OSE http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/disas _anniversary.pdf ters/ This report from the United Nations’ Office Disasters, a special online report series from of the Secretary-General Special Envoy for Tsu- the National Science Foundation (NSF) high- nami Recovery, Tsunami Recovery: Taking Stock lights some of the disaster research supported by after 12 Months, documents the status of the re- NSF. The first two parts of the series are “Under- covery efforts one year later. standing Disasters” and “Preparing for the From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. Worst.” 4, p. 18. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. 3, p. 22 http://www.unicef.org/emerg/disasterinasia/24 615.html http://www.unisdr.org/eng/about_isdr/basic_d This Web site provides a one-year update of ocs/SG-report/SG-report-60-180-eng.pdf the efforts of the United Nations Children’s Fund This report to the United Nations secretary- (UNICEF) in areas affected by the 2004 Indian general provides an overview of the implemen- Ocean tsunami. The report Building Back Better: tation of the International Strategy for Disaster A 12-Month Update on UNICEF’s Work to Re- Reduction and the follow-up to the World Con- build Children’s Lives and Restore Hope since ference on Disaster Reduction held in January the Tsunami and Children and the Tsunami, A [2006] in Kobe, Japan. Year On: A Draft UNICEF Summary of What From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. Worked are also available for download. 3, p. 22 From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. 4, p. 18-19. http://www.avma.org/disaster/ The Web site of the American Veterinary http://www.oxfamamerica.org/newsandpublic Medical Association provides educational ma- ations/publications/briefing_papers/briefing_ terials to assist veterinarians, animal owners, and note.2005-12-14.7726023050 others interested in the well-being of animals in A Place to Stay, a Place to Live: The Oxfam preparing for animal safety in the event of a Shelter Report documents the challenges and disaster. successes of Oxfam’s shelter work in the first From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. year of the organization’s 2004 Indian Ocean 3, p. 22 tsunami response in India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. http://www.envoyworldwide.com/pdf/Pillars From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. Wppr0805.pdf 4, p. 19. “The Five Pillars of Emergency Communi- cations Planning,” a white paper produced by http://www.d-trac.org/ EnvoyWorldwide, discusses best practices for In the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean planning communications to key parties in times tsunami, the Disaster Tracking Recovery As- of crisis. sistance Center of Thailand developed this Web From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. site, which provides details on the status of and 3, p. 22; or progress made in tsunami relief activities in http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06g.html Thailand. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. http://www.who.int/hac/events/tsunamiconf/en/ 4, p. 19. Proceedings and outcomes from the World Health Organization Conference on the Health http://www.rand.org/health/projects/php/ Aspects of the Tsunami Disaster in Asia held in This Web site was recently launched by the Phuket, Thailand, in May 2005 can be found RAND Corporation to support state and local here. public health emergency preparedness activities. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. It includes a searchable database of public health 3, p. 22; or emergency preparedness exercises that have been http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06g.html evaluated by a team of RAND researchers. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. ►http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2006/3023/ 4, p. 19. The insert in this issue, Fact Sheet 2006- 3023, can be downloaded and printed from this URL.

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 24 CLASSES, WORKSHOPS http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/mar06 e.html#peri Risk Communication Challenge: Proven Strategies for Effective Risk Communication. International Workshop on Standardization Presenter: Harvard School of Public Health. for Emergency Preparedness. Boston, Massachusetts: May 22-24, 2006. This Sponsors: American National Standards In- pro-gram uses a combination of lectures, dis- stitute (ANSI) and New York University Inter- cussion, case studies, and exercises to ensure national Center for Enterprise Preparedness participants under-stand the key concepts of risk (INTERCEP). Florence, Italy: April 24-26, 2006. communication and acquire practical experience The purpose of this meeting is to reach an inter- in how to apply them. Topics will include risk national workshop agreement for emergency pre- perception theory, mental modeling, crisis com- paredness and operational continuity that will be munication, and media preparation. To learn published by the International Standards Organi- more, contact the Harvard School of Public zation (ISO). It is anticipated that the agreement Health, Center for Continuing Professional will evolve into an ISO standard. Organizations Education, CCPE Department A, 677 Hunt- involved with emergency preparedness and op- ington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115; (617) 384- erational continuity are encouraged to attend. To 8692; e-mail: [email protected]; learn more, contact Bill Raisch, INTERCEP; http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/ccpe/programs/RCC.sht (212) 998-2000; e-mail: [email protected] or ml. Matt Deane, ANSI; (212) 642-4992; e-mail: From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. [email protected]; http://www.ansi.org/iwa/. 4, p. 14; also available at From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06 4, p. 13; also available at /mar06f.html http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/mar06 f.html Free Online Training Courses Offered by PERI Delivering effective training on an array of CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA risk management subjects has always been a goal of the Public Entity Risk Institute (PERI). But, 14th Annual Voluntary Organizations Active reaching all the relevant leaders and employees in Disasters (VOAD) Conference at thousands of small organizations is nearly im- Raleigh, North Carolina: May 9-12, 2006. possible to accomplish using traditional methods This conference includes national VOAD com- of training delivery. mittee meetings as well as workshops and op- Now, PERI is rolling out the first of its new portunities to exchange ideas on disaster re- collection of e-training courses, which features a sponse. To learn more, visit range of risk management topics that can be ac- http://www.nvoad.org/annualconf1.php. cessed on the PERI Web site. Recognizing the From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. need to expand opportunities for critical training 4, p. 13; also available at to a broader audience, PERI developed this on- http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/mar06 line initiative to afford greater access to organi- f.html zations with limited resources. These risk man- agement courses will initially be offered at no 2006 International Symposium on Technology charge. PERI plans to offer both free and reason- and Society (ISTAS ’06) ably-priced online courses in the future. Sponsor: Institute of Electrical and Elec- New training courses will be added through- tronics Engineers Society on Social Implications out 2006 on topics such as risk management for of Technology. New York, New York: June 8- small business, levee vulnerability, and terrorism 10, 2006. With a theme of “Disaster Prepared- prevention. For more information about the e- ness and Recovery,” this symposium will discuss training initiative, contact Claire Reiss at social, economic, and ethical issues of technol- [email protected] or (703) 352-1846. ogy and disaster preparedness and recovery; so- Access the courses at cial implications of usability; environmental, http://www.riskinstitute.org/test.php?pid=page&t health, safety, and peace-related implications of id=88. technology; and social, economic, and ethical From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. issues involving energy, information, and tele- 4, p. 11; also available at communications technologies. To learn more,

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 25 contact Roberta Brody; (718) 997-3766; e-mail: http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/mar06 [email protected]; f.html http://ieeessit.org//conferences_sub.asp?Level2It emID=12&Level3ItemID=10. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. EXHIBITS 4, p. 14, also available at http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/mar06/mar06 Springfield Science Museum, February 18 f.html through September 3, 2006 The special exhibition, Earth Attacks: Vol- 16th World Conference on Disaster Manage- canoes, Earthquakes and Tsunamis, will explore ment the causes and effects of some of the disastrous Organizer: Canadian Centre for Emergency events that plague our planet. Earth Attacks uses Preparedness (CCEP). Toronto, Canada: June interactive components, simulations, three-di- 18-21, 2006. The purpose of this conference is mensional models, photographs, video, and com- to listen and learn, plan and prepare, educate, and puter games to explain the science behind natural exchange views on the lessons to be learned disasters, how experts predict natural events, and from all disciplines of disaster and emergency how these forces affect our lives. Springfield, management. The theme of the 2006 conference Massachusetts. is “The Changing Face of Disaster Management From: —A Global Perspective.” For more information, http://www.springfieldmuseums.org/museums/science contact Adrian Gordon, CCEP, 860 Harrington /exhibits/?page_function=view&exhibit_id=25 Court, Suite 211, Burlington, Ontario L7N 3N4, Canada; (905) 331-2552; e-mail: NOAA’s Science on a Sphere [email protected]; http://www.wcdm.org/. [This exhibit is housed at the National Mari- From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. time Center, Nauticus, a maritime-themed sci- 3, p. 21; or ence center that features hands-on exhibits, in- http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06f. teractive theaters, aquaria, digital high-definition html films, and an extensive variety of educational programs, in Norfolk, Virginia] International Disaster Reduction Conference Imagine gazing upon Earth as you are sus- (IDRC) Davos 2006 pended in orbit 22,000 miles above its surface. Organizers: Global Alliance for Disaster You can watch a hurricane form, as a small Reduction; Global Disaster Information Net- storm slowly gathers strength, traveling west- work; United Nations Education, Scientific, and ward from Africa, across the Atlantic Ocean, Cultural Organization; United Nations Interna- toward the Gulf of Mexico. You can see the tional Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Davos, colorful infrared images of cloud tops meet, join, Switzerland: August 26-September 1, 2006. A grow, collapse and disperse. The prevailing global gathering of leading experts from science, westerly winds and the easterly trade winds government, business, civil society, international materialize before your eyes. You can see the organizations, nongovernmental organizations, Earth’s scorching desert expanses in contrast to and risk management organizations, this event the below-zero temperature of cloud tops. Our will address different kinds of risks with an in- dynamic atmosphere roils as you watch with the tegrated and participatory approach. The pro- help of infrared satellite imagery projected onto a gram will include topical plenary sessions and movie screen-like, white sphere. Called “Science panel debates; scientific and policy-oriented On A Sphere”, this spectacular vision of our thematic sessions; special regional sessions; side Earth is the brainchild of Alexander (Sandy) events organized by different international and MacDonald, Director of the National Oceanic national organizations; and special recognition of and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) pioneers in risk reduction. To learn more, contact Forecast Systems Laboratory in Boulder, IDRC Davos 2006, Flüelastrasse 11, CH-7260 Colorado. Four projectors cast rotating images Davos, Switzerland; +41 (0)81 417 02 25; e- onto a sphere, approximately six feet in diameter mail: [email protected]; to create the effect of Earth in space. http://www.davos2006.ch/. Because the images originate from data col- From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no. lected by satellites, researchers refer to the pro- 4, p. 14, also available at jected images as “data sets.” The possible data sets that can be projected using Science On a

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 26 Sphere seem limited only by imagination. Coast city to attain that designation. Science On Already, there are data sets where you can see A Sphere exhibited a model representation from the dry, brown deserts of Australia, Asia, Africa the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory as well as both North and South American in (PMEL) of the 12/26/04 Indonesian Tsunami contrast to the adjacent verdant plains and event. Another dramatic simulation, also pre- forests. You can trace Earth’s continuous plates pared by PMEL, of a hypothetical Atlantic coast from ocean depths to mountain chains. tsunami due to a large earthquake in the Puerto Imagine future data sets where you can see Rican Trench provided viewers with an experi- Pangaea, the super-continent that included all the ential understanding of the dangers of tsunamis landmasses of Earth, breaking up and carried by and the need for community preparedness. Earth’s crustal plates to form the continents that From: we recognize today. Imagine data sets where http://www.fsl.noaa.gov/happening/hotitems/200 you can see the climate of the past and present. 6/06Feb08.html ♦ And then…be able to project into the future, what the climate would be like. Imagine…we could plan for the future. Imagine…the many possibilities. Disaster officials need schooling in law, expert Science On a Sphere provides dramatic says visualization of complex information in an Government officials who are responsible understandable form for the public; a unique for keeping us safe from disaster need to learn instrument for teaching students science, math, homeland security law, say a group of industry and geography; and a handy scientific tool to experts. Are public officials “ignorant” about translate numerical information into visual their role in disaster relief? images. Science On a Sphere! A spectacular In a new article in the Washington Exam- look at our world and at the universe. iner, writer Bill Myers says the experts were as- Information provided by NOAA. sembled for a panel discussion at the American From: http://www.thenmc.org/sos.html Bar Association’s first-ever conference on home- (more below) land security law. “It seems to me and to others that what we really need is more education about the author- ities that we do have - particularly the education of our senior leaders,” RAND Corp. official Michael A. Wermuth told a crowd of about 150 lawyers at the event. Myers says Wermuth also told the crowd he has been surprised how great public officials’ ignorance is when talking about their role in disaster relief. As an example, Wermuth pointed to former FEMA director Michael Brown’s public admis- sion last week that he was responsible for the agency’s fumbled response to hurricane Katrina. Brown said he should have “demanded the mili- tary sooner” in the crisis, but Wermuth says fed- High Visibility for Science On a Sphere eral laws don’t even allow FEMA to call in the NOAA's Science on a Sphere (SOS) has military. seen a busy January. A team from the Global “The point I'm trying to make here is, if Systems Division's Technology Outreach Branch we’ve got people who have significant respon- set up an installation at the Science Museum of sibilities in this area who are not even familiar Minnesota in St. Paul, MN the week of January with the authorities that are on the books, then 9th. This is the first of five scheduled installa- we're probably starting off on the wrong foot,” tions to follow nationwide over the next several Wermuth told the crowd. months. Myers says that Wemuth’s “co-panelists - ►Additionally, SOS was featured at the including a public health official from Baltimore National Maritime Center (Nauticus) Tsunami- and an official from the National Governors As- Ready event in Norfolk, VA on January 24th that sociation - all hymned the virtues of open lines recognized Norfolk as being the first major East of communication betwixt and between govern-

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 27 ment agencies and all called for a lingua franca for disaster-relief officials.” OTHER NEWS BRIEFS To read the full article, go to http://www.dcexaminer.com/articles/2006/01/20/ Tsunami warning system for the Indian news/d_c_news/05newsdc22disaster.txt Ocean From: Continuity e-Guide, January 25, 2006 Australia's Government will take part in the http://disaster-resource.com/newsletter/ installation of new tsunami warning buoys in the continuityv119.htm ♦ Indian Ocean as part of a deal with the United States. The agreement was signed in Melbourne, and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology will oversee the extension system and the delivery of information to the tsunami warning centre based in Hawaii. In return, Australia will receive American software to improve weather forecast- ing. From: ABC Asia Pacific TV / Radio Australia at Tsunami Evacuation Maps for Selected http://abcasiapacific.com/news/stories/asiapacific Washington Coastal Communities _stories_1600633.htm DOWNLOAD A TSUNAMI BROCHURE Tsunami forum set for April 12 The Cannon Beach Emergency Preparedness • Aberdeen-Hoquiam (Adobe PDF Committee will sponsor a Tsunami Information ) Forum at 7 p.m. April 12 at the Coaster Theatre, • Bay Center and Vicinity (Adobe First and Hemlock streets, Cannon Beach. The PDF ) intent is to provide the latest scientific informa- • tion on the threat of earthquake and tsunami, to Clallam Bay (Adobe PDF ) share the emergency plans of the city, to point • Copalis Beach (Adobe PDF ) out evacuation routes and sites and to provide • Cosmopolis (Adobe PDF ) survival information. George Priest, of the • La Push (Adobe PDF ) Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral In- • Long Beach and Ilwaco (Adobe dustries, will discuss the geology of the Cascadia subduction zone fault and the tsunami that could PDF ) be produced by an offshore quake. City officials • Neah Bay (Adobe PDF ) will share the local emergency response plans. • North Cove and Tokeland (Adobe From: PDF ) http://www.dailyastorian.info/main.asp?Search= • Ocean Shores (Adobe PDF ) 1&ArticleID=32038&SectionID=2&SubSectionI • Ocean Park and Vicinity (Adobe D=&S=1

PDF ) • Port Angeles (Adobe PDF ) • Port Townsend (Adobe PDF ) • Raymond and South Bend (Adobe Google Alerts PDF ) If you want Google to conduct daily or • Sequim (Adobe PDF ) weekly searches for news on tsunamis, go to www.google.com/alerts. The dialog box will • Westport (Adobe PDF ) have you supply a Search Term (tsunami); Type (news, web, news and web, groups); How Often These brochures can be viewed and (daily, weekly, as it happens); and your email downloaded using Adobe Acrobat PDF address. You will receive emails with links to Viewer. Some files are 1MB in size and may the appropriate websites. take a while to open after Acrobat launches. Thanks to Wayne Johnston for this http://emd.wa.gov/5-prog/prgms/eq- information. tsunami/tsunami-idx.htm

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 28 Eyewitness accounts of the 1906 S.F. earthquake 100th anniversary of April 18, 1906 earthquake

Enrico Caruso and the 1906 earthquake I remain speechless, thinking I am in some Enrico Caruso (1873 - 1921) is considered dreadful nightmare, and for something like forty by many music lovers to be the greatest operatic seconds I stand there, while the buildings fall tenor of all time. He was on tour in San Francis- and my room still rocks like a boat on the sea. co during the Great Earthquake, and appeared in And during that forty seconds I think of forty Carmen at the Mission Opera House a few hours thousand different things. All that I have ever before the disaster. done in my life passes before me, and I remem- This somewhat disjointed narrative of ber trivial things and important things. I think of Caruso’s experiences in San Francisco appeared my first appearance in grand opera, and I feel in The Sketch, published in London, with draw- nervous as to my reception, and again I think I ings by Caruso to illustrate his experiences. The am going through last night’s “Carmen.” article was reprinted in the July 1906 edition of And then I gather my faculties together and The Theatre magazine. call for my valet. He comes rushing in quite cool, and, without any tremor in his voice, says: You ask me to say what I saw and what I did “It is nothing.” But all the same he advises me to during the terrible days which witnessed the de- dress quickly and go into the open, lest the hotel struction of San Francisco? Well, there have fall and crush us to powder. By this time the been many accounts of my so-called adventures plaster on the ceiling has fallen in a great show- published in the American papers, and most of er, covering the bed and the carpet and the fur- them have not been quite correct. Some of the niture, and I, to, begin to think it is time to “get papers said that I was terribly frightened, that I busy.” My valet gives me some clothes; I know went half crazy with fear, that I dragged my not what the garments are but I get into a pair of valise out of the hotel into the square and sat trousers and into a coat and draw some socks on upon it and wept; but all this is untrue. I was and my shoes, and every now and again the room frightened, as many others were, but I did not trembles, so that I jump and feel very nervous. I lose my head. I was stopping at the [Palace] do not deny that I feel nervous, for I still think Hotel, where many of my fellow-artists were the building will fall to the ground and crush us. staying, and very comfortable it was. I had a And all the time we hear the sound of crashing room on the fifth floor, and on Tuesday evening, masonry and the cries of frightened people. the night before the great catastrophe, I went to Then we run down the stairs and into the bed feeling very contented. I had sung in “Car- street, and my valet, brave fellow that he is, goes men” that night, and the opera had one with fine back and bundles all my things into trunks and eclat. We were all pleased, and, as I said before, drags them down six flights of stairs and out into I went to bed that night feeling happy and con- the open one by one. While he is gone for anoth- tented. er and another, I watch those that have already But what an awakening! You must know arrived, and presently someone comes and tries that I am not a very heavy sleeper—I always to take my trunks saying they are his. I say, “no, wake early, and when I feel restless I get up and they are mine”; but he does not go away. Then a go for a walk. So on the Wednesday morning soldier comes up to me; I tell him that this man early I wake up about 5 o’clock, feeling my bed wants to take my trunks, and that I am Caruso, rocking as though I am in a ship on the ocean, the artist who sang in “Carmen” the night before. and for a moment I think I am dreaming that I He remembers me and makes the man who takes am crossing the water on my way to my beau- an interest in my baggage “skiddoo” as Ameri- tiful country. And so I take no notice for the mo- cans say. ment, and then, as the rocking continues, I get up Then I make my way to Union Square, where and go to the window, raise the shade and look I see some of my friends, and one of them tells out. And what I see makes me tremble with fear. me he has lost everything except his voice, but I see the buildings toppling over, big pieces of he is thankful that he has still got that. And they masonry falling, and from the street below I hear tell me to come to a house that is still stand-ing; the cries and screams of men and women and but I say houses are not safe, nothing is safe but children. the open square, and I prefer to remain in a place where there is no fear of being buried by falling

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 29 buildings. So I lie down in the square for a little "Routed out of bed at a quarter past five. rest, while my valet goes and looks after the lug- Half an hour later Mrs. London and I were in the gage, and soon I begin to see the flames and all saddle. We rode miles over the surrounding the city seems to be on fire. All the day I wander country. An hour after the shock, from a high about, and I tell my valet we must try and get place in the mountains, we could see at the same away, but the soldiers will not let us pass. We time the smoke of burning San Francisco and of can find no vehicle to find our luggage, and this burning Santa Rosa. Caught a train to Santa Rosa night we are forced to sleep on the hard ground – Santa Rosa got it worse than S.F. Then in the in the open. My limbs ache yet from so rough a afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, we got into San bed. Francisco and spent the whole night in the path Then my valet succeeds in getting a man of the flames – you bet, I saw it all." with a cart, who says he will take us to the Oak- When Jack and Charmian London arrived in land Ferry for a certain sum, and we agree to his San Francisco, she was stunned as she and Jack terms. We pile the luggage into the cart and walked through the streets of the doomed city: climb in after it, and the man whips up his horse "In my eyes, there abides the face of a stric- and we start. ken man, perhaps a fireman, whom we saw car- We pass terrible scenes on the way: build- ried into a lofty doorway in Union Square. His ings in ruins, and everywhere there seems to be back had been broken, as the stretcher bore him smoke and dust. The driver seems in no hurry, past, out of a handsome, ashen young face, the which makes me impatient at times, for I am dreadful darkening eyes looked right into mine. longing to return to New York, where I know I All the world was crashing about him, and he, a shall find a ship to take me to my beautiful Italy broken thing, with death awaiting him inside the and my wife and my little boys. granite portals, gazed upon the last woman of his When we arrive at Oakland we find a train race that he was to ever see. Jack, with tender there which is just about to start, and the officials hand, drew me away." are very polite, take charge of my luggage, and Writing about the earthquake and the fire tell me go get on board, which I am very glad to were troublesome for Jack London. He told do. The trip to New York seems very long and Charmian, "I'll never write about this for any- tedious, and I sleep very little, for I can still feel body, no, I'll never write a word about it. What the terrible rocking which made me sick. Even use trying? Only could one string big words to- now I can only sleep an hour at a time, for the gether and curse the futility of them." experience was a terrible one. However, when Collier's offered him the The Sketch, London; reprinted in The then-enormous sum of 25 cents per word for his Theatre Vol. VI., No. 65, July 1, 1906. story of the Great Earthquake and Fire, Jack From: London, in serious debt, wrote a 2500-word ar- http://www.sfmuseum.net/1906/ew19.html ticle for the magazine. It was the most money, per word, he was ever to be paid for his writings. London was not happy with the results, but Jack London and the great earthquake and said, "It's the best stagger [money] I can make at fire an impossible thing." Jack and Charmian London were at their Editors at Collier's held the presses as Lon- ranch in Glen Ellen at the time of the earthquake, don's article was telegraphed to them in New and soon left on horseback to see the wreck of York. It was published in the May 5, 1906, edi- the nearby California Home for the Care and tion, just two weeks after the disaster. Training of Feeble-Minded Children, as dust rose from the ruins. THE STORY OF AN EYEWITNESS Mr. London said to his wife – as she wrote By Jack London, in 1921: "Why, Mate Woman, I shouldn't won- Collier's special Correspondent der if San Francisco had sunk. That was some Collier's, the National Weekly earthquake. We don't know but the Atlantic may May 5, 1906 be washing up at the feet of the Rocky Moun- Upon receipt of the first news of the earth- tains!" quake, Colliers telegraphed to Mr. Jack London– In a note to a relative, London explained who lives only forty miles from San Francisco– where he was, and how he traveled to San requesting him to go to the scene of the disaster Francisco following the disaster: and write the story of what he saw. Mr. London started at once, and he sent the following

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 30 dramatic description of the tragic events he wit- the flames, the wind was often half a gale, so nessed in the burning city. mighty was the suck. Wednesday night saw the destruction of the The earthquake shook down in San Francis- very heart of the city. Dynamite was lavishly co hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of used, and many of San Francisco proudest struc- walls and chimneys. But the conflagration that tures were crumbled by man himself into ruins, followed burned up hundreds of millions of dol- but there was no withstanding the onrush of the lars' worth of property There is no estimating flames. Time and again successful stands were within hundreds of millions the actual damage made by the fire-fighters, and every time the wrought. Not in history has a modern imperial flames flanked around on either side or came up city been so completely destroyed. San Francisco from the rear, and turned to defeat the hard-won is gone. Nothing remains of it but memories and victory. a fringe of dwelling-houses on its outskirts. Its An enumeration of the buildings destroyed industrial section is wiped out. Its business sec- would be a directory of San Francisco. An enum- tion is wiped out. Its social and residential sec- eration of the buildings undestroyed would be a tion is wiped out. The factories and warehouses, line and several addresses. An enumeration of the great stores and newspaper buildings, the the deeds of heroism would stock a library and hotels and the palaces of the nabobs, are all gone. bankrupt the Carnegie medal fund. An enum- Remains only the fringe of dwelling houses on eration of the dead-will never be made. All ves- the outskirts of what was once San Francisco. tiges of them were destroyed by the flames. The Within an hour after the earthquake shock number of the victims of the earthquake will the smoke of San Francisco's burning was a lurid never be known. South of Market Street, where tower visible a hundred miles away. And for the loss of life was particularly heavy, was the three days and nights this lurid tower swayed in first to catch fire. the sky, reddening the sun, darkening the day, Remarkable as it may seem, Wednesday and filling the land with smoke. night while the whole city crashed and roared On Wednesday morning at a quarter past into ruin, was a quiet night. There were no five came the earthquake. A minute later the crowds. There was no shouting and yelling. flames were leaping upward In a dozen different There was no hysteria, no disorder. I passed quarters south of Market Street, in the working- Wednesday night in the path of the advancing class ghetto, and in the factories, fires started. flames, and in all those terrible hours I saw not There was no opposing the flames. There was no one woman who wept, not one man who was ex- organization, no communication. All the cunning cited, not one person who was in the slightest adjustments of a twentieth century city had been degree panic stricken. smashed by the earthquake. The streets were Before the flames, throughout the night, fled humped into ridges and depressions, and piled tens of thousands of homeless ones. Some were with the debris of fallen walls. The steel rails wrapped in blankets. Others carried bundles of were twisted into perpendicular and horizontal bedding and dear household treasures. Sometimes angles. The telephone and telegraph systems a whole family was harnessed to a carriage or were disrupted. And the great water-mains had delivery wagon that was weighted down with burst. All the shrewd contrivances and safe- their possessions. Baby buggies, toy wagons, and guards of man had been thrown out of gear by go-carts were used as trucks, while every other thirty seconds' twitching of the earth-crust. person was dragging a trunk. Yet everybody was gracious. The most perfect courtesy obtained. The Fire Made its Own Draft Never in all San Francisco's history, were her people By Wednesday afternoon, inside of twelve so kind and courteous as on this night of terror. hours, half the heart of the city was gone. At that time I watched the vast conflagration from out A Caravan of Trunks on the bay. It was dead calm. Not a flicker of All night these tens of thousands fled before wind stirred. Yet from every side wind was pour- the flames. Many of them, the poor people from ing in upon the city. East, west, north, and south, the labor ghetto, had fled all day as well. They strong winds were blowing upon the doomed had left their homes burdened with possessions. city. The heated air rising made an enormous Now and again they lightened up, flinging out suck. Thus did the fire of itself build its own co- upon the street clothing and treasures they had lossal chimney through the atmosphere. Day and dragged for miles. night this dead calm continued, and yet, near to

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 31 They held on longest to their trunks, and Spread of the Conflagration over these trunks many a strong man broke his Surrender was complete. There was no heart that night. The hills of San Francisco are water. The sewers had long since been pumped steep, and up these hills, mile after mile, were dry. There was no dynamite. Another fire had the trunks dragged. Everywhere were trunks with broken out further uptown, and now from three across them lying their exhausted owners, men sides conflagrations were sweeping down. The and women. Before the march of the flames were fourth side had been burned earlier in the day. In flung picket lines of soldiers. And a block at a that direction stood the tottering walls of the time, as the flames advanced, these pickets re- Examiner building, the burned-out Call building, treated. One of their tasks was to keep the trunk- the smoldering ruins of the Grand Hotel, and the pullers moving. The exhausted creatures, stirred gutted, devastated, dynamited Palace Hotel on by the menace of bayonets, would arise and The following will illustrate the sweep of struggle up the steep pavements, pausing from the flames and the inability of men to calculate weakness every five or ten feet. their spread. At eight o'clock Wednesday even- Often, after surmounting a heart-breaking ing I passed through Union Square. It was packed hill. they would find another wall of flame ad- with refugees. Thousands of them had gone to vancing upon them at right angles and be com- bed on the grass. Government tents had been set pelled to change anew the line of their retreat. In up, supper was being cooked, and the refugees the end, completely played out, after toiling for a were lining up for free meals dozen hours like giants, thousands of them were At half past one in the morning three sides compelled to abandon their trunks. Here the of Union Square were in flames. The fourth side, shopkeepers and soft members of the middle where stood the great St. Francis Hotel was still class were at a disadvantage. But the working- holding out. An hour later, ignited from top and men dug holes in vacant lots and backyards and sides the St. Francis was flaming heavenward. buried their trunks. Union Square, heaped high with mountains of trunks, was deserted. Troops, refugees, and all The Doomed City had retreated. At nine o'clock Wednesday evening I walked down through the very heart of the city. I A Fortune for a Horse! walked through miles and miles of magnificent It was at Union Square that I saw a man buildings and towering skyscrapers. Here was no offering a thousand dollars for a team of horses. fire. All was in perfect order. The police pa- He was in charge of a truck piled high with trolled the streets. Every building had its watch- trunks from some hotel. It had been hauled here man at the door. And yet it was doomed, all of it. into what was considered safety, and the horses There was no water. The dynamite was giving had been taken out. The flames were on three out. And at right angles two different confla- sides of the Square and there were no horses. grations were sweeping down upon it. Also, at this time, standing beside the truck, At one o'clock in the morning I walked I urged a man to seek safety in flight. He was all down through the same section Everything still but hemmed in by several conflagrations. He was stood intact. There was no fire. And yet there an old man and he was on crutches. Said he: was a change. A rain of ashes was falling. The "Today is my birthday. Last night I was worth watchmen at the doors were gone. The police thirty-thousand dollars. I bought five bottles of had been withdrawn. There were no firemen, no wine, some delicate fish and other things for my fire-engines, no men fighting with dynamite. The birthday dinner. I have had no dinner, and all I district had been absolutely abandoned. I stood at own are these crutches." the corner of Kearny and Market, in the very in- I convinced him of his danger and started nermost heart of San Francisco. Kearny Street him limping on his way. An hour later, from a was deserted. Half a dozen blocks away it was distance, I saw the truck-load of trunks burning burning on both sides. The street was a wall of merrily in the middle of the street. flame. And against this wall of flame, silhouetted On Thursday morning at a quarter past five, sharply, were two United States cavalrymen sit- just twenty-four hours after the earthquake, I sat ting their horses, calming watching. That was all. on the steps of a small residence on Nob Hill. Not another person was in sight. In the intact With me sat Japanese, Italians, Chinese, and heart of the city two troopers sat their horses and negroes–a bit of the cosmopolitan flotsam of the watched. wreck of the city. All about were the palaces of the nabob pioneers of Forty-nine. To the east and

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 32 south at right angles, were advancing two mighty wagon. A steel telegraph pole had smashed down walls of flame sheer through the driver's seat and crushed the I went inside with the owner of the house on front wheels. The milk cans lay scattered around. the steps of which I sat. He was cool and cheer- All day Thursday and all Thursday night, all day ful and hospitable. "Yesterday morning," he said, Friday and Friday night, the flames still raged on. "I was worth six hundred thousand dollars. This Friday night saw the flames finally con- morning this house is all I have left. It will go in quered. through not until Russian Hill and Tele- fifteen minutes. He pointed to a large cabinet. graph Hill had been swept and three-quarters of a "That is my wife's collection of china. This rug mile of wharves and docks had been licked up. upon which we stand is a present. It cost fifteen hundred dollars. Try that piano. Listen to its The Last Stand tone. There are few like it. There are no horses. The great stand of the fire-fighters was made The flames will be here in fifteen minutes." Thursday night on Van Ness Avenue. Had they Outside the old Mark Hopkins residence a failed here, the comparatively few remaining palace was just catching fire. The troops were houses of the city would have been swept. Here falling back and driving the refugees before were the magnificent residences of the second them. From every side came the roaring of generation of San Francisco nabobs, and these, flames, the crashing of walls, and the detonations in a solid zone, were dynamited down across the of dynamite path of the fire. Here and there the flames leaped the zone, but these fires were beaten out, prin- The Dawn of the Second Day cipally by the use of wet blankets and rugs. I passed out of the house. Day was trying to San Francisco, at the present time, is like the dawn through the smoke-pall. A sickly light was crater of a volcano, around which are camped creeping over the face of things. Once only the tens of thousands of refugees At the Presidio sun broke through the smoke-pall, blood-red, and alone are at least twenty thousand. All the sur- showing quarter its usual size. The smoke-pall it- rounding cities and towns are jammed with the self, viewed from beneath, was a rose color that homeless ones, where they are being cared for by pulsed and fluttered with lavender shades Then it the relief committees. The refugees were carried turned to mauve and yellow and dun. There was free by the railroads to any point they wished to no sun. And so dawned the second day on stric- go, and it is estimated that over one hundred ken San Francisco. thousand people have left the peninsula on which An hour later I was creeping past the San Francisco stood. The Government has the shattered dome of the City Hall. Than it there situation in hand, and, thanks to the immediate was no better exhibit of the destructive force of relief given by the whole United States, there is the earthquake. Most of the stone had been shak- not the slightest possibility of a famine. The en from the great dome, leaving standing the bankers and business men hare already set about naked framework of steel. Market Street was making preparations to rebuild San Francisco. piled high with the wreckage, and across the From: wreckage lay the overthrown pillars of the City http://www.sfmuseum.net/hist5/jlondon.html Hall shattered into short crosswise sections.

This section of the city with the exception of Written by Joaquin Miller the Mint and the Post-Office, was already a for the Oakland Tribune waste of smoking ruins. Here and there through May 6, 1906 the smoke, creeping warily under the shadows of I am too tired to think. I have been working tottering walls, emerged occasional men and on the stone wall all day, because the earthquake women. It was like the meeting of the handful of doesn't come this way and my walls will stand survivors after the day of the end of the world. till the cows come home.

Beeves Slaughtered and Roasted Earthquakes come like Christmas – once a On Mission Street lay a dozen steers, in a year – or, rather, once a century. I have lived in neat row stretching across the street just as they Japan, Honolulu and Naples, and these are the had been struck down by the flying ruins of the earthquake countries. They quake only now and earthquake. The fire had passed through after- then, and as a rule more people die from stale ward and roasted them. The human dead had fruit in the tropics than from earthquakes. An been carried away before the fire came. At earthquake is as innocent as a kid. Keep out of another place on Mission Street I saw a milk the way of the kid. In truth I know nothing in nature quite so innocent as an earthquake. Look

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 33 around you in every little village here. Half a shut them out, but I was lying in bed after five dozen houses, and half a dozen happy families, and wide awake, for I always go to bed with the but everything built close down to the ground, birds and get up with the birds, and the first I with all California to build over. I don't see why knew my cattle began to low and my cats came we have to crowd into one little plot of land. into my chapel, and I thought there might be a House piled on house. Ten stories built as if we strange dog. were walled in like Babel, of old, with such swift I got up, and looked out for the dog, but it transportation, where everybody came and went. was nothing of the sort. The cats were under my There is no sense in piling house on house, great brass bed and I never witnessed such still- putting our time going up and down stairs. ness. I lay down again and then the sun burst Were I to rebuild San Francisco, I would put over the hills and San Francisco was silver and all that and San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Jose, gold. Milpitas, Alameda, Oakland, and Berkeley, all in The streets seemed wide, bright and steep, one broad city of one and two-story houses as in and I've never seen the city so large, but the still- the City of Mexico, and I'd call the whole bunch ness was terrible and the light was unnatural, and San Francisco. then two little talented birds came into the chapel I despise these small towns, their multi- and a humming bird out of the apple tree came in tudinous mayors, their egotisms, their vanities, and there was a bump and a thump as if I were in their big houses and their small ideas. Like the a small boat bumping against a wharf. old Spaniards we must suit ourselves to the I felt about four of these bumps and got up climate and the conditions. Let New York go her and went to my chapel door, and saw one of my way, but we must go ours if we expect to rival Japanese boys at my right hand, and one at my New York, and there is no half reason why we left. may not pass New York in the next ten years if I said "Earthquake?" and they answered we only use common sense and get over our "earthquake," and we went back to bed. The cats vanities and our village notions and names that went out and everything seemed satisfactory. mean nothing. There's room for just one city, and After breakfast I went out to work in my that is San Francisco, because it has the most garden, then the smoke began to curl up, and it glorious bay on the globe. Of course the heart of curled up high and strong, for there had never it may be Oakland, but by name and nature, San been such a rich city in the history of the world – Francisco, the Garden City, the University City rich in rye and bourbon from Kentucky – rich in [San Jose and Palo Alto] – all should be freezed all brands of wines. Never had there been a fire into one. so richly fed. I think that fires are good, especially in hell. From every corner you could see the flames San Francisco was not a clean city, like Chicago bursting higher and higher from these costly and Boston – she was nasty. stores which no city had ever had before, and the From what I can read the city is much clouds for all three days and nights were most healthier than it was before, and the people are wonderful to behold. much better behaved. Before the fire I was over- California was great from the start, but she run here by bullies, egotists, adventurers – they was never so entirely great as now. The main im- were loud and vulgar. It was hard to keep them provement in San Francisco will be turning all off my grounds – my grounds are graveyards, Nob Hill into a public park. Nob Hill was an af- where my mother and children are buried, and fectation. Nobody ever liked it. Nobody ever should I go to Mountain View cemetery or San liked to live there, and everybody who owned Francisco and yell and howl and roar, as these property got out after a brief experience. San Francisco people have done here for years, I Of course I am not a city man. I live in the would be in jail in less than an hour, but since country and I cultivate my cabbage, but I have the fire I've had quiet. The fire has done me no doubt that San Francisco will be restored to good. I've had peace from this time on. her people. The eyesores will be gone, and the It seemed like a tremendous fire in Kit Car- place will be one of undimmed loveliness. son's camp, when the plains were aflame, but From: there was one great difference – there was no http://www.sfmuseum.net/1906/ew5.html ♦ wind. An earthquake is always quiet. The birds hid when the earthquake came. ►For a full list of online eyewitness accounts of My chapel was open at the time. It is always the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, go to open except when strangers come and I have to http://www.sfmuseum.org/1906/ew.html

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 34

Disability updates/responses to last issue

WEBSITES to improve available data, building and life http://www.nod.org/EPIResources/interactive_m safety codes, evacuation technologies, and ap.html evacuation practices for people with physical This tool developed by the National Organ- disabilities. It includes panel discussion sum- ization on Disability provides an interactive maries as well as breakout group recommend- directory of regional, state, and local disability- dations and next steps. related emergency management resources. The From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no Interactive Map of Disability and Preparedness 3, p. 28; or Resources is a work in progress, and as new re- http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06i. sources are developed and discovered, they will html be included. Public Transportation Emergency Mobilization http://www.disabilityworld.org/12- and Emergency Operations Guide 01_06/disasterneeds.shtml Transit Cooperative Research Program. Disability World , a bimonthly webzine on ISBN 0-309-08833-8. 2005. 124 pp. $25.00. international disability news, hosts this summary Available free online from the Transportation of recent resources regarding the inclusion of Research Board, Lockbox 289, Washington, DC people with disabilities in planning for and re- 20055; (202) 334-3213; sponding to emergencies and disasters. http://trb.org/news/blurb_detail.asp?id=5259. This report examines activities that may be http://www.connectlive.com/events/samhsa/ taken by public transportation agencies work-ing The archived webcast of “Peer Support: with their local communities to promote the Disaster Preparation for People with Psychiatric early recognition of emergency events, expedite Disabilities” is available here for free online response to emergency events, establish multi- viewing. The webcast is sponsored by the U.S. agency coordination, and ensure that public Department of Health and Human Services Sub- transportation resources are available to support stance Abuse and Mental Health Services Ad- the response to an emergency event. Written for ministration Center for Mental Health Services. transit general managers; transit emergency re- sponse, law enforcement, and security officials; http://www.weather.gov/nwr/special_need.htm and operations, training, and human resources The material provided in this document is staffs, it may also be of interest to federal, state, general information on how you can use NOAA and local emergency response and emergency Weather Radio (NWR) as an alerting tool for the management representatives. deaf and hard of hearing. From: Natural Hazards Observer, v. 30, no 3, p. 28; or PUBLICATIONS http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/jan06/jan06i. html ♦ Emergency Evacuation of People with Physical Disabilities from Buildings: 2004 Conference Proceedings 2005. 72 pp. Published by the U.S. Depart- ment of Education, National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research, Potomac Center Plaza, 550 12th Street SW, Room 6050, Washington, DC 20202; (202) 245-7386. Available free online from the Interagency Com- mittee on Disability Research; http://www.icdr.us/pubs.html.

The result of an October 2004 conference, this report highlights research recommendations

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 35 Added to the NTHMP Library March-April 2006 Heaton, Thomas H.; Snavely, Parke D., Jr., 1985?, Possible tsunami along the coast of Washington Note: These, and all our tsunami materials, are inferred from Indian traditions: U.S. Geological included in the online (searchable) catalog at Survey?, 11 p. http://www.dnr.wa.gov/geology/washbib.htm. Type ‘tsunamis’ in the Subject field to get a full Jackson, Kelly L.; Amelung, Falk; Andres, Miriam listing of all the tsunami reports and maps in the S.; Eberli, Gregor; Jayasena, Chandra; Kehelpannala, collection. K. V. Wilbert; Peterson, Larry; Rankey, Eugene, 2005, Comparative study of the sediment record of

coastal lagoons, Sri Lanka--Implications for paleo- American Society of Civil Engineers; Institute for tsunamis [abstract]: Eos (American Geophysical Business & Home Safety, 2001, The ten most Union Transactions), v. 86, no. 52, p. F1. wanted--A search for solutions to reduce recur- ring losses from natural hazards: Institute for Kench, Paul S.; McLean, Roger F.; Brander, Robert Business & Home Safety?, 24 p. W.; Nichol, Scott L.; Smithers, Scott G.; Ford,

Murray R.; Parnell, Kevin E.; Aslam, Mohamed, Arai, Kohsaku; Kisimoto, Kiyoyuki; Ikehara, 2006, Geological effects of tsunami on mid-ocean Ken; Joshima, Masato; Nishimura, Kiyokazu; atoll islands—The Maldives before and after the Soh, Wonn, Machiyama, Hideaki, 2005, Deep Sumatran tsunami: Geology, v. 34, no. 3, p. 177-180. tow sub-bottom profiler and side scan sonar records around the epicenter of the Sumatra Martin, Corinne Carlton, 2005, Tsunami Sue: earthquake, 26th December, 2004 [abstract]: Eos BookSurge, LLC, [16 p.]. (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v.

86, no. 52, p. F1. Masterlark, Timothy, 2005, Poroelastic coupling of

the recoent M9 and M8.7 earthquakes in the Sumatra- Cervelli, Peter, 2004, The threat of silent earth- Andaman subduction zone [abstract]: Eos (American quakes: Scientific American, v. 290, no. 3, p. Geophysical Union Transactions), v. 86, no. 52, 86-91. p. F1.

Dahdouh-Guebas, Farid; Koedam, Nico, 2006, Melini, Daniele; Piersanti, Antonio; Florindo, Fabio; Coastal vegetation and the Asian tsunami: De Michelis, Paola, 2005, Core mantle boundary Science, v. 311, no. 5757, p. 37. deformations triggered by the Sumatra earthquake

[abstract]: Eos (American Geophysical Union Trans- Danielsen, Finn; Sorensen, Mikael K.; Olwig, actions), v. 86, no. 52, p. F1. Mette F.; Selvam, Vaithilingam; Parish, Faizal;

Burgess, Neil D., 2006, Response to Coastal Meszaros, Jacqueline, 2003, Small businesses and vegetation and the Asian tsunami: Science, v. earthquake mitigation: Disaster Safety Review, v. 2, 311, no. 5757, p. 37. no. 2, p. 5-7.

Gahalaut, V. K.; Nagarajan, B.; Catherine, J. K.; Meyer, Uwe; Ploethner, Dieter; Siemon, Bernhard; Kumar, S., 2006, Constraints on 2004 Sumatra- Roettger, Bernd; Rehli, Hans-Joachim, 2005, Post- Andaman earthquake rupture from GPS measure- tsunami helicopter-borne electromagnetics and ments in Andaman-Nicobar Islands: Earth and surface hydrology along the coasts of Aceh, In- Planetary Science Letters, v. 242, no. 3-4, p. 365- donesia [abstract]: Eos (American Geophysical 374. Union Transactions), v. 86, no. 52, p. F867.

Goff, J.; Dudley, W. C.; deMaintenon, M. J.; Morrissey, Wayne A., 2005, Tsunamis--Monitoring, Cain, G.; Coney, J. P., 2006, The largest local detection, and early warning systems: Congressional tsunami in 20th century Hawaii: Marine Geology, Research Service RL 32739, 18 p. v. 226, no. 1-2, p. 65-79.

Perez-Torrado, Francisco J.; Paris, Raphael; Cabrera, Gower, J.; Gonzalez, F., 2006, U.S. warning Maria C.; Schneider, Jean-Luc; Wassmer, Patrick; system detected the Sumatra tsunami: Eos Carracedo, Juan-Carlos; Rodriguez-Santana, Angel; (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. Santana, Francisco, 2006, Tsunami deposits related to 87, no. 10, p. 105, 108. flank collapse in oceanic volcanoes--The Agaete

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 36 Valley evidence, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands: Marine Geology, v. 227, no. 1-2, p. 135-149.

Robison, David; Kluge, Steve, 2006, The great Sumatra earthquake and tsunami--A comprehend- STATE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICES sive inquiry based lab [abstract]: Geological So- ciety of America Abstracts with Programs, v. 38, Alaska Dept of Military & Veteran Affairs no. 2, p. 15. Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Mgmt.

PO Box 5750 Subcommitte on Disaster Reduction; United Fort Richardson, AK 99505-5750 States Group on Earth Observations, 2005, Tsu- (907) 428-7000; toll-free 800-478-2337 nami risk reduction for the United States--A Fax (907) 428-7009 framework for action: National Science and Tech- http://www.ak-prepared.com/ nology Council, [27 p.]. ten Brink, Uri; Geist, Eric L., 2005, Size distribu- California Office of Emergency Services tion of submarine landslides and implications for 3650 Schriever Ave. tsunami probability in Puerto Rico [abstract]: Eos Mather, CA 95655 (American Geophysical Union Transactions), v. (916) 845-8510; Fax (916) 845-8910 86, no. 52, p. F1035. http://www.oes.ca.gov/

Tierney, Kathleen J.; Petak, William J.; Hahn, Hawaii State Civil Defense, Dept. of Defense Harlan, 1988, Disabled persons and earthquake 3949 Diamond Head Road hazards [excerpts]: Institute of Behavioral Honolulu, HI 96816-4495 Science, University of Colorado, p. 26-29, 36-37, (808) 733-4300; Fax (808) 733-4287 54-55, 58-69, 86-87, 92-93, 140-155. http://www.scd.state.hi.us

U.S. Geological Survey, 2006, Tsunami hazards-- Oregon Division of Emergency Management A national threat: U.S. Geological Survey Fact PO Box 14370 Sheet 2006-3023, 2 p. Salem, OR 97309-50620 (503) 378-2911; Fax (503) 373-7833 U.S. House of Representatives Committee on http://www.oregon.gov/OOHS/OEM/ Science, 2005, Tsunamis--Is the U.S. prepared?-- Hearing before the Committee on Science, House Washington State Military Dept. of Representatives, 109th Congress, 1st session, Emergency Management Division January 26, 2005: U.S. Government Printing Of- Camp Murray, WA 98430-5122 fice Serial 109-1, 130 p. (253) 512-7067; Fax (253) 512-7207

http://emd.wa.gov Venturato, Angie J.; Denbo, Donald W.; Titov,

Vasily V.; McHugh, Kevin T.; Sorvik, Paul, Provincial Emergency Program 2005, Tsunami forecasting system design and 455 Boleskin Road development [abstract]: Eos (American Geophys- Victoria, BC V8Z 1E7 Canada ical Union Transactions), v. 86, no. 52, p. F953. (250) 952-4913; Fax (250) 952-4888 Wood, Nathan J.; Good, James W., 2005, Percep- http://www.pep.bc.ca/ tions of earthquake and tsunami issues in the U.S. Pacific Northwest port and harbor communities: updated 3-31-2006 International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, v. 23, no. 3, p. 103-138.♦

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 37 NATIONAL TSUNAMI HAZARD MITIGATION PROGRAM STEERING GROUP

NOAA 345 Middlefield Rd., MS 977 Ph: 916-327-1813; Fax 916-322-4765 Jeff LaDouce, Chairman Menlo Park, CA 94025 [email protected] NOAA/NWS Pacific Region, Ph: 650-329-4792; Fax: 650-329-4732 737 Bishop St., Suite 2200 [email protected] Don Hoirup, Jr., California Geological Survey , Honolulu, HI 96813-3213 Dept. of Conservation Ph: 808-532-6416; Fax: 808-532-5569 Craig Weaver, USGS 801 K Street, MS 12-31 [email protected] c/o Geophysics Sacramento, CA 95814-3531 Box 351650 Ph: 916-324-7354 ; Fax: 916-445-3334 Landry Bernard, NOAA/NDBC University of Washington [email protected] Bldg 1100 Room 361C Seattle, WA 98195-1650 Stennis Space Center, MS 39529-6000 Ph: 206-553-0627; Fax: 206-553-8350 Hawaii Ph: 228-688-2490; Fax: 228-688-3153 [email protected] [email protected] Jeanne Johnston NSF Civil Defense Division , State of Hawaii Eddie Bernard, NOAA/PMEL Richard Fragaszy 3949 Diamond Head Road 7600 Sand Point Way NE The National Science Foundation Honolulu, HI 96816-4495 Seattle, WA 98115-6349 ENG/CMS Ph: 808-733-4301 ext. 552; Fax: 808-733-4287 Ph: 206-526-6800; Fax: 206-526-6815 4201 Wilson Blvd., Room 545 [email protected] [email protected] Arlington, VA 22230 Ph.: 703-292-7011; Fax 703-292-9053 Walter C. Dudley Frank González, NOAA/PMEL [email protected] Civil Defense Division, State of Hawaii 7600 Sand Point Way NE Pacific Tsunami Museum, Seattle, WA 98115-6349 Alaska 200 W. Kawili St., Hilo, HI 96720 Ph: 206-526-6803; Fax: 206-526-6485 R. Scott Simmons Ph.: 808-933-3905; Fax: 808974-7693 [email protected] Alaska Division of Homeland Security and [email protected] Emergency Management Laura Furgione, Alaska Region Dir. P.O. Box 5750, Suite B-210, Bldg. 49000 Oregon NoAA/NWS, Alaska Region HQ Fort Richardson, AK 99505-5750 Jay Wilson, Oregon Emergency Management, 222 W. 7th Ave. #23 Ph: 907-428-7016; Fax: 907-428-7009 P.O. Box 14370 Anchorage, AK 99513-7575 [email protected] Salem, OR 97309-5062 Ph: 907-271-5136; Fax: 907-271-3711 Ph: 503-378-2911 Ext. 22237; [email protected] Ervin Petty (Alt.), Alaska Division of Fax: 503-373-7833 Homeland Security and Emergency [email protected] James Partain, Alaska Region NOAA/NWS, Management 222 W. 7th Ave., #23 P.O. Box 5750, Suite B-210, Bldg. 49000 George Priest, Oregon Dept. of Geology & Anchorage, AK 99513-7575 Fort Richardson, AK 99505-5750 Mineral Industries Ph: 907-271-5131; Fax: 907-271-3711 Ph: 907-428-7015; Fax: 907-428-7009 Coastal Field Office [email protected] [email protected] P.O. Box 1033 Newport, OR 97365 Laura Kong, ITIC, Director Roger Hansen, Geophysical Institute, Ph: 541-574-6642; Fax: 541-265-5241 737 Bishop St., Suite 2200 University of Alaska, P.O. Box 757320 [email protected] Honolulu, HI 96813 903 Koyukuk Dr. Ph: 808-532-6423; Fax: 808-532-5576 Fairbanks, AK 99775-7320 Jonathan C. Allan (Alt.) Oregon Dept. [email protected] Ph: 907-474-5533; Fax: 907-474-5618 of Geology & Mineral Industries [email protected] Coastal Field Office, P.O.Box 1033 Brian Yanagi, ITIC Newport, OR 97365 737 Bishop St., Suite 2200 Rodney Combellick (Alt.) Ph: 541-574-6658; Fax: 541-265-5241 Honolulu, HI 96813 Alaska Dept. of Natural Resources [email protected] Ph: 808-532-6422; Fax: 808-532-5576 Div. of Geological & Geophysical Surveys [email protected] 3354 College Road Washington Fairbanks, AK 99709 George Crawford, Washington. State Military DHS/FEMA Ph: 907-451-5007; Fax: 907-451-5050 Dept., Emergency Management Division Chris Jonientz-Trisler, DHS/FEMA [email protected] Camp Murray, WA 98430-5122 Region X, Ph: 253-512-7067; Fax: 253-512-7207 130 228th St. SW California [email protected] Bothell, WA 98021-9796 Richard Eisner, FAIA Ph: 425-487-4645; Fax: 425-487-4613 Governor’s Office Of Emergency Services Timothy Walsh, Division of Geology & Earth [email protected] 1300 Clay St., Ste. 400 Resources Oakland, California 94612 P.O. Box 47007 Michael Hornick DHS/FEMA Region IX Ph: 510-286-0888; Fax: 510-663-5339 Olympia, WA 98504-7007 1111 Broadway, Suite 1200 [email protected] Ph: 360-902-1432; Fax: 360-902-1785 Oakland, CA 94607 [email protected] Ph: 510-627-7260; Fax: 510-627-7147 Michael S. Reichle, Chief Seismologist, Dept [email protected] of Conservation From: http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami- California Geological Survey hazard/tsuhaz.htm USGS 801 "K" Street, MS 12-32 David Oppenheimer, USGS Sacramento CA 95814-3530 Updated Mar. 31, 2006♦

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 38 VIDEO RESERVATIONS To reserve tsunami videos, contact TsuInfo Alert Video Reservations, Lee Walkling, Division of Geology and Earth Resources Library, 1111 Washington St. SE, MS 47007, Olympia, WA 98504-7007; or e-mail [email protected]

Adventures of Disaster Dudes (14 min.). Preparedness for low-cost, non-structural changes to child care facilities, in preteens. American Red Cross. preparation for natural disasters. Accompanying booklet. The Alaska Earthquake, 1964 (20 min.) Includes data on the Does NOT address problems specifically caused by tsunamis. tsunamis generated by that event. The Quake Hunters (45 min.) A good mystery story, Business Survival Kit for Earthquakes & Other Disasters; explaining how a 300-year old Cascadia earthquake was What every business should know before disaster strikes (27 finally dated by finding records in Japan about a rogue min.). Global Net Productions for the Cascadia Regional tsunami in January 1700 Earthquake Workgroup, 2003. With CD disaster planning Raging Planet; Tidal Wave (50 min.) Produced for the toolkit & other data. Discovery Channel in 1997, this video shows a Japanese city Cannon Beach Fire District Community Warning System that builds walls against tsunamis, talks with scientists about (COWS) (21 min.) Explains why Cannon Beach chose their tsunami prediction, and has incredible survival stories. particular warning system. Raging Sea: KGMB-TV Tsunami Special. (23.5 min.) Cascadia: The Hidden Fire–An Earthquake Survival Guide Aired 4-17-99, tsunami preparedness in Hawaii. (10 min.). Global Net Productions, 2001. A promo for a The Restless Planet (60 min.) An episode of "Savage documentary about the Cascadia subduction zone and the Earth" series. About earthquakes, with examples from Japan, preparedness its existence demands of Alaska, Oregon and Mexico, and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Washington states. Includes mention of tsunamis. Run to High Ground (14 min.). Produced by Global Net Disasters are Preventable (22 min.) Ways to reduce losses Productions for Washington Emergency Management from various kinds of disasters through preparedness and Division and Provincial Emergency Program of British prevention. Columbia, 2004. Features storyteller Viola Riebe, Hoh Tribe. Disaster Mitigation Campaign (15 min.). American Red For K-6 grade levels. Have video and DVD versions. Cross; 2000 TV spots. Hurricanes, high winds, floods, Tsunami and Earthquake Video (60 min.). "Tsunami: How earthquakes. Occur, How Protect," "Learning from Earthquakes," Earthquake…Drop, Cover & Hold (5 min.). Washington "Computer modeling of alternative source scenarios." Emergency Management Division. 1998. Tsunami: Killer Wave, Born of Fire (10 min.). NOAA/ Forum: Earthquakes & Tsunamis (2 hrs.). CVTV-23, PMEL. Features tsunami destruction and fires on Okushiri Vancouver, WA (January 24, 2000). 2 lectures: Brian Atwater Island, Japan; good graphics, explanations, and safety in- describes the detective work and sources of information about formation. Narrated by Dr. Eddie Bernard, (with Japanese the Jan. 1700 Cascadia earthquake and tsunami; Walter C. subtitles). Dudley talks about Hawaiian tsunamis and warning systems. Tsunami: Surviving the Killer Waves (13 min.). 2 versions, International Tsunami Information Centre, 2004, Tsunami one with breaks inserted for discussion time. warning evacuation news clips and video footage, UNESCO Tsunami Chasers (52 min.). Costas Synolakis leads a /IOC International Tsunami Information Centre, 1 DVD, 12 research team to Papua New Guinea to study submarine min. landslide-induced tsunamis. Beyond Productions for the Killer Wave: Power of the Tsunami (60 min.).National Discovery Channel. Geographic video. Tsunami Evacuation PSA (30 sec.). DIS Interactive Mitigation: Making Families and Communities Safer (13 Technologies for WA Emergency Management Division. min.) American Red Cross. 2000. Not Business as Usual: Emergency Planning for Small Understanding Volcanic Hazards (25 min.). Includes Businesses, sponsored by CREW (Cascadia Regional information about volcano-induced tsunamis and landslides. Earthquake Workgroup) (10 min.), 2001. Discusses disaster UNESCO/IOC International Tsunami Information Centre, preparedness and business continuity. Although it was made 2005, U.S. National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program for Utah, the multi- hazard issues remain valid for everyone. public information products—B-roll footage, tsunami Websites are included at the end of the video for further science, warnings, and preparedness: UNESCO/IOC information and for the source of a manual for emergency International Tsunami Information Centre, 1 DVD, 57 min. preparedness for businesses. The Wave: a Japanese Folktale (9 min.) Animated film to Numerical Model Aonae Tsunami–7-12-93 (animation by start discussions of tsunami preparedness for children. Dr. Vasily Titov) and Tsunami Early Warning by Glenn Waves of Destruction (60 min.) An episode of the "Savage Farley, KING 5 News (The Glenn Farley portion cannot be Earth" series. Tsunamis around the Pacific Rim. rebroadcast.) Who Wants to be Disaster Smart? (9 min.). Washington Ocean Fury--Tsunamis in Alaska (25 min.) VHS and DVD. Military Department/Emergency Management Division. Produced by Moving Images for NOAA Sea Grant College 2000. A game show format, along the lines of Who Wants to Program, 2004. be a Millionaire?, for teens. Questions cover a range of The Prediction Problem (58 min.) Episode 3 of the PBS different hazards. series "Fire on the Rim." Explores earthquakes and tsunamis The Wild Sea: Enjoy It...Safely (7 min.) Produced by the around the Pacific Rim Ocean Shores Wash. Interpretive Center, this video deals Protecting Our Kids from Disasters (15 min.) Gives good with beach safety, including tsunamis. ♦ instructions to help parents and volunteers make effective but

NOTE: The TsunamiReady Education CD included in the 2005 Earth Science Week kit is available for borrowing, too..

Updated Jan. 23, 2006

TsuInfo Alert, v. 8, no. 2, April 2006 39

Infrequently Asked Questions Compiled by Lee Walkling

What was the largest local tsunami in 20th century Hawaii? The 1975 Kalapana tsunami. From: Goff, J.; Dudley, W. C.; deMaintenon, M. J.; Cain, G.; Coney, J. P., 2006, The largest local tsunami in 20th century Hawaii: Marine Geology, v. 226, no. 1-2, p. 65-79. ►[Editor’s note: There is more information at http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/tsunami/kalapana/index.html photos at: http://www.tsunami.org/archives1975.htm Dr. George’s page: http://www.drgeorgepc.com/Tsunami1975.html Hawaiian Volcano Observatory page: http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch/1995/95_11_24.html]

Can you name NOAA’s ancestors? Although the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was formed in 1970, the agencies that came together at that time were among the oldest in the federal government. These agencies included the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey formed in 1807, the Weather Bureau formed in 1870, and the Bureau of Com- mercial Fisheries formed in 1871. These organizations represented America’s first physical science agency, first agency dedicated specifically to the atmospheric sciences, and first conservation agency. Today, NOAA is housed within the Department of Commerce and continues to focus on the condition of the oceans and the atmosphere. Six line offices exist within NOAA: the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Na- tional Ocean Service, the National Weather Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, the Na- tional Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, and Program Planning and Integration. These organizations play several distinct roles in the Department of Commerce: • Supplier to environmental information products • Provider of environmental stewardship services • Leader in applied scientific research NOAA is a trusted source of accurate and objective scientific information about ecosystems, climate, weather and water, and commerce and transportation. From: “One NOAA serves state and local programs,” Coastal Services, v. 9, no. 2, p. 1, excerpt.

What does April 18, 2006 commemorate? The one hundredth anniversary of the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. (See pages 29-34)

Above is a seismogram recorded in Gottingen, Germany, 9100 kilometers away. It shows how the ground moved in Germany as a result of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Time advances from left to right. Small wiggles, beginning 1/2 inch from left end, signal arrival of first compressional (P) waves. Large wiggles half way along represent arrival of slower-traveling shear (S) waves. The part of the record shown here spans about 1600 seconds or 26 minutes. The instrument subsequently went off-scale when surface waves arrived. From: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/info/1906/seismogram.html ♦

http://www.psepc-sppcc.gc.ca/res/em/cdd/index-en.asp This database contains historical information on disasters that have directly affected Canadians, at home and abroad, over the past century. It includes references to all types of Canadian disasters, including those triggered by natural hazards, technological hazards, or conflict (not including war).

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