Citizens seek better tsunami information

Residents of Puget Island and Skamokawa asked Wahkiakum County commissioners Tuesday to see what could have been done to improve communication about the potential threats from tsunamis following the devastating March 11 Japanese earthquake.

Several citizens said they felt like they couldn't get satisfactory information from the Wahkiakum County Sheriff's Department, and that they felt the department couldn't have notified citizens in time if there had been a serious tsunami threat.

Commission Chair Lisa Marsyla agreed that she felt uninformed during the event and that she would call a meeting of the county's emergency services council to discuss the county's response.

Puget Island residents Dale and Sylvia Costich said they had monitored the situation through the night and called the sheriff's office. They said they apparently alerted the dispatcher on duty to the situation. Sheriff Jon Dearmore was out of town, and officers in charge decided to wait till tsunamis reached Hawaii to determine their level of response. At that time, Dale Costich said, there wouldn't have been enough time to use the reverse 911 phone system to notify residents of low-lying areas to evacuate, if necessary.

"I feel the mechanical steps are not in place to make a timely call," he said. "I would call for a review. I'd rather be called sooner than later."

"I didn't know about the situation till a dispatcher called me around 7 a.m.," Marsyla, also an Island resident, said.

Island resident Judy Brawn, a former communications officer for the sheriff's office, said people phone her seeking information because she formerly worked for the department. She called the sheriff's office for information.

"I was startled that it was so casual," she said.

Sylvia Costich suggested the county could install a series of sirens as are found in coastal communities to warn of tsunamis.

Commissioners Dan Cothren and Blair Brady said they, too, monitored the situation and would have activated emergency warnings if they felt that was warranted.

"My day starts early," Cothren said. He went to Grays Bay and monitored water levels as the sun rose.

"The Columbia River is a heck of a barrier," he said. "If there was any kind of issue, the reverse 911 would have been used."

"The reason we don't have sirens is that we're considered to be outside the tsunami zone," Brady said. "I was aware of what was happening. We were awaiting word from Hawaii. There have been studies showing that Puget Island is out of the danger zone. We would have had time."

Sheriff Dearmore wasn't part of the discussion, which took place in the meeting of the county board of commissioners.

Last week, he told The Eagle that he had been contacted early in the morning while he was in a conference in central Washington. He contacted Pacific County Sheriff Scott Johnson and got data and analysis from him. Nothing indicated a need for activation of the county's reverse 911 system, he said. If that had been necessary, staff could have done so, Dearmore said.