Tsunami

 

Saturday morning I got the call. Most who live on the coast hold our collective breath, always knowing that a tsunami could happen at any time. Our little family has taken every precaution: we have emergency packs ready to go and we discussed the only escape plan: get to high ground as quickly as possible. It was 5 o'clock in the morning when I got the call that there was a tsunami advisory for the coast. Jarred out of sleep, I hustled to wake the others. It took us about 20 minutes to dress, grab, and get in the vehicle. We impressed ourselves with our focus and speed.

An advisory is the possibility of a tsunami - it could have been worse, it could have been a 'warning.' At that point, the sirens would have sounded, and 6,000 Ocean Shores residents would have been jamming the road trying to get over 100 feet above sea level. That is exactly why we have emergency backpacks so we can walk, if necessary. Since it was an advisory, we (and about a dozen others we saw) easily drove out of town and toward the safety of high ground. We found the highest point we could, parked, and waited for news. 

Eventually, more information came and we were able to head back home. Emergency management didn't actually cancel the tsunami advisory until much later in the evening. But, we were not in imminent danger as any waves would be only 1-2 feet higher than usual. This meant that the beaches would be inundated most likely up to the dunes, but the town and our homes were not in danger. Thankfully, we were able to continue with our Saturday plans. But, it could have been very different. 

But, here is the good news: we were able to give our evacuation plan a dry-run. We felt good with our emergency packs and with how we received news from our local emergency management agency. But, we also know that in the future we may not be able to drive out if those sirens scream - we would have to hoof-it with our emergency packs on our backs (and, they are not particularly light). I am really hoping next time we will (like this time) get an early advisory so some of us would be able to beat it out of town in our cars before it becomes a warning of imminent danger to homes. I would rather use any advisories as an excuse to drill our plan; that way, if it ends up being a more serious warning, then we are safely out of the area, not stuck in a traffic jam. 

It is not alarmist to say that if we had a catastrophic tsunami hit our coast, many lives, homes, and businesses would be lost. There are always tsunami shelters proposed and planned, but voters and policy makers have never deemed it important enough to get anything off the planning desk and into reality. So, we are all still at substantial risk. Amazingly, too many plan to break out the cocktails and watch the end come, like some sort of hurricane party. What a shame when better options are available.

Speaking of better options, we snuck down to the coast of Oregon, where it was rumored to have sunshine, to see how they were faring the circumstances. 

Oops - access closed for safety;
absolutely no one was on the beach

this is a sloped, concrete walkway to the beach ... they are gonna need
some heavy equipment to remove those large boulders and logs!

I have never seen the water so high. Wow.

There were others doing what we were doing - just quietly looking and contemplating the effects of a tsunami. But, by Sunday all was back to normal - and it was sunny, which is a bonus this time of year!

All's well that ends well.