Tsunami scare should serve as wake up call

To The Eagle:

The night of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan we were awakened by a phone call from a relative who saw the news on TV.

After watching the news for a while, we decided to get some sleep and check back at 5 a.m. when the tsunami was expected to hit Hawaii. If there was a massive wave at Hawaii that might significantly hit our coast, we were prepared to leave Puget Island for higher ground, just to be on the safe side. We never panicked and we would not have waited for an official evacuation notice, if we were concerned about flooding here.

However, most of the residents on the island did not have the option of watching TV and making their own decision because they were not given a “heads up” notification. That led us to ask questions to determine what the emergency notification process is for our community. We know that there is a reverse 911 system, but what is the criteria and timeline for implementation? We think that a call to notify residents when there is an event occurring, with unknown local consequence, is a good idea. A visit to the Sheriff’s Office for answers raised our concern, as the staff person said that using reverse 911 took an hour or more to implement, did not know how long the calling took, and it cost money. Then we wondered, if there was an emergency occurring, could all of the residents be notified timely for a successful evacuation? Consequently, we voiced our concerns at the March 22 county commissioners meeting. The dialogue at this meeting and subsequent reports in The Wahkiakum County Eagle indicate that there is a problem with our emergency response process. Hopefully, these problems (staffing, communication, etc.) will be resolved in the near future.

This event was a wake-up call to evaluate the county’s current emergency management system. During this evaluation we hope the following are addressed:

1) The Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) should specify responder/action for some specific potential disasters such as earthquakes, rapid flooding due to a closer tsunami or a dam breaking up river, or an accident at the Wauna Mill releasing a large amount of harmful chemicals into the environment.

2) Informing the public regarding the CEMP. An informed public can better help themselves and the emergency responders as a disaster is occurring.

3) A comprehensive system to notify the public of potential or imminent disasters. This system has to be activated by the emergency personnel – i.e. reverse 911 and pole-mounted special sirens. People have to be informed that something is happening to know they should watch TV, call an info line, or check a website to receive updates.

Dale and Sylvia Costich

Cathlamet