Tsuinfo Alert, April 2003
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Contents Volume 5, Number 2, April 2003 Special Features To receive the TsunamiReady and StormReady desig- Tsunamis in Great Britain--Past, Present, and Future? nations, Homer successfully met the readiness criteria and Tsunami 'Turned Britain into an Island Overnight', by David Derbyshire 7 Tsunamis in England, by David Long.......................................................8 was approved by an advisory board made up of local emer- Mega-Tsunami Report from England........................................................9 gency managers, representatives from the Alaska Division How to Demonstrate an Impact Tsunami................................................ 10 of Emergency Services and the NWS. Official Tsunami- Additional British Tsunami/Earthquake Links........................................10 Ready and StormReady signs will be posted on roadsides Departments Tsunami Program News.............................................................................. 1 entering the community. Hazard Mitigation News ............................................................................ 5 "Preparation and advance warning are vital factors in Workshops, Etc...........................................................................................6 tsunami readiness. Citizens in a seaside community, such as Infrequently Asked Questions .................................................................. 11 Homer, which is in an area prone to earthquakes, must un- Websites .................................................................................................. 13 Conferences/Training/Seminars.................................................................13 derstand the importance of moving to high ground or inland New Tsunami Mitigation Materials Added to the Library ........................14 immediately in case a tsunami occurs," said Paul Whitmore Video Reservations .................................................................................. 17 of the West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center. "When Directories ............................................................................................... 19 disasters occur, a StormReady or TsunamiReady community will be better prepared for its citizens." TSUNAMI PROGRAM NEWS (continued, p. 3) NOAA's National Weather Service Presents "TsunamiReady" Certification to Homer, Alaska The Richard H. Hagemeyer Tsunami Mitigation by Tracey Lake, 907-271-4767 Award http://www.nws.noaa.gov/pa/homeralaska.html reprinted with permission The National Hazard Mitigation Program announ- ces a call for nominations for this year's Richard H. Homer, AK, Jan. 27 – NOAA's National Weather Service Hagemeyer Tsunami Mitigation Award. The award today honored Homer, Alaska, with a TsunamiReady desig- recognizes the project or program that most exemplifies nation. The community was also recognized for achieving building tsunami-resistant U.S. coastal communities. the StormReady designation during a ceremony held in Groups or individuals concerned with tsunami mitiga- Homer. tion are eligible for the award. Nominations are encour- "Today we are making history by honoring Homer for aged for projects and programs that address one or more establishing a way to better protect citizens from tsunamis of the following areas: improving tsunami education; and severe weather threats," said NWS Alaska Region Dir- providing tools and training for construction, land use ector Richard Przywarty. "These communities have demon- planning, and/or emergency planning and response in strated a strong commitment to putting the infrastructure tsunami inundation zones; creating and strengthening and systems in place that will save lives and protect proper- links within and among coastal communities and states ty in the event of these damaging and hazardous events." to support long-term tsunami mitigation; improving the The TsunamiReady and StormReady programs are vol- tsunami mitigation science infrastructure; or encourag- untary preparedness programs that establish guidelines for ing local innovation and sponsorship of tsunami mitiga- communities to follow for tsunami and severe weather read- tion programs. iness. TsunamiReady and StormReady communities have Nomination forms and supporting materials must be adopted the requirements set by NWS in the areas of com- received by September 1, 2003. Complete information is munications, warning reception and dissemination, public available at http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami-hazard/ outreach and awareness programs and administrative plan- Hagemeyeraward.htm. ning. 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, Library Information Specialist and Connie J. Manson, Senior Library Information Specialist, 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.wa.gov/dnr/htdocs/ger/tsuinfo/index.html Participants in the TsuInfo program can request copies of reports listed in this issue from: Library Washington Department of Natural Resources Division of Geology and Earth Resources P.O. Box 47007 Olympia, WA 98504-7007 ph: 360/902-1472 or 360/902-1473 fax: 360/902-1785 e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] 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. 2 TsuInfo Alert, v. 5, no. 2, April 2003 Oregon Senate Proposes Tsunami Legislation and evacuation plans in at least one prominent location in with thanks to the dwelling unit. Mark Darienzo, Oregon Emergency Management (c) A public or private park shall post the tsunami warning information and evacuation plans in at least one Senate Bill 650 is working its way through the 72nd prominent location, such as the office, the pay station or Oregon Legislative Assembly, 2003 Regular Session. The another central location in the park at which park informa- Bill (reprinted below) requires lodging facilities to post tion is distributed to park users. tsunami information and establishes a uniform tsunami SECTION 2. The Office of Emergency Management warning signal. shall adopt, by rule, a uniform tsunami warning signal, in- Typographic note: Matter underlined in an amended cluding specification of the type, duration and volume of the section is new. Matter lined out is existing law to be omit- warning signal and the location of warning signal delivery ted. New sections are underlined. devices, for use on the Oregon coast. SECTION 3. (1) The requirements under section 1 (2) LC 2396--Senate Bill 650 and (4) of this 2003 Act to post tsunami warning informa- Sponsored by Senator MORRISETTE; Senators MES- tion and evacuation plans apply to a transient lodging facili- SERLE, C STARR, Representatives BROWN, HOPSON, ty on or after October 1, 2004. KRIEGER, MARCH, VERGER (at the request of Joint (2) The Office of Emergency Management shall adopt Interim Uniform Tsunami Response Planning Task Force) the administrative rules required by sections 1 (3) and 2 of this 2003 Act not later than July 1, 2004. SUMMARY The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors Results of the August-September 2001 of the measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject Washington State Tsunami Survey to consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an edi- tor's brief statement of the essential features of the measure The Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences science as introduced. report 2002/17 by D. Johnston, D. Paton, B. Houghton, J. Requires Office of Emergency Management to estab- Becker, and G. Crumbie (Institute of Geological & Nuclear lish tsunami warning information, evacuation plans and uni- Sciences Limited, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, June 2002) form tsunami warning signal. Requires transient lodging studied 3 of the 4 phases of hazard preparedness: improving facilities located within tsunami inundation zones to post communities' hazard knowledge and risk perception, pro- tsunami warning information and evacuation plans. moting intentions to adopt preparatory measures, and con- verting intentions into actual behavior. A BILL FOR AN ACT "The overall conclusion of this study is that the hazard Relating to tsunami warning system. Be It Enacted by education program to date has been successful in terms of the People of the State of Oregon: promoting knowledge and awareness of the tsunami hazard SECTION 1. (1) As used in this section: (a) 'Transient amongst coastal Washington residents. Preparedness, per- lodging facility' means a hotel, motel, inn, condominium, haps predictably, is lagging behind awareness at this time. any other dwelling unit or a public or private park that is The survey points to the need for some additional strategies made available for transient occupancy or vacation occu- to deal with the visitor population and the need to augment pancy as those terms are defined in ORS 90.100. (b) 'Tsuna- existing program with initiatives that translate this aware- mi inundation zone' means an area of expected tsunami in- ness into enhanced preparedness." (p. vi) undation, based on scientific evidence that may include geo- logic field data and tsunami modeling, determined