If anyone knows what to do when a tsunami siren goes off, it should be the residents of Port Alberni. But that city’s experience last year is a warning to all of us coastal dwellers.
A study of what happened on Jan. 23, 2018, found that although many things worked well, too many people didn’t know what to do when the sirens sounded. At 1:31 a.m. that day, a magnitude-7.9 earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska.
It was an Alaska quake in March 1964 that sent the country’s largest tsunami rushing up the Alberni Inlet. Since their city was flooded, the people of Port Alberni have been more tsunami-aware than any other Canadians.
Even so, the alert last January caught some residents unprepared. They weren’t sure if they lived in the evacuation zones or what to do when they left their homes.
About 90 per cent of those in the zones moved to higher ground, but many were confused by the lack of confirmation. When the sirens sounded, older people went to TV or radio to confirm that the alert was real. Younger people went to social media, but the city’s sites said nothing for most of the three hours before the alert was lifted.
Emergency officials have to keep that in mind: Although the sirens should be enough warning, many people need confirmation from trusted sources.
According to the study, 60 per cent of Port Alberni residents have updated their emergency plans since last January’s scare. The rest of us should do the same.
