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Topic: Alaska TSUNAMI WARNING Test Today  (Read 1843 times)

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Klondike Kid

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Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness initiated a broadcast test of their tsunami warning system....much like the old civil defense alerts broadcast on the tv and radio.

Did anyone hear the warning? It was broadcast on TV, radio, and VHF radio and was to begin at 10:15am today.  If you did catch it, they are asking that you report what media you heard it on by going to READY.ALASKA.GOV on the Internet and filling in a short form identifying where you heard it and when.

I had tuned in to the CBS over air broadcast tv channel here in Soldotna (11-1) as well as had my handheld VHF radio broadcasting the NOAA weather and marine forecast on Channel 03 at the time.

It began at 10:17:57 am on my VHF radio. Breaking into my WX broadcast with an Alert "siren" warning and a text notice on my screen saying there was an emergency weather alert on my weather channel 03 (for Kenai/Soldotna area). It repeated the alarm two full cycles with vocal announcement accompanying the text message on the screen. If you happened to be on 16 or another channel the Alert would broadcast on your radio no matter which channel you monitor or were on and that would instruct you to go to the weather channel to listen to the warning.  After the two cycles a voice announcement continued for 30 minutes informing the public and commercial listeners to go to Ready.Alaska.gov to report their experience.

There was NO ALERT on Channel 11 CBS in Soldotna at all.

Anyway, should you be out on the salt chuck in your boat and there is the potential for a tsunami, you will get the alert broadcast over your radio. FYI.
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Take a Kid Fishing and Hook'em For Life!  ~KK~


RoxnDox

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KK, do they do those as a statewide test, or regional?
Junk Jigs "BEST USE OF ACTUAL JUNK" category - "That tape should have been a prized possession and not junk. That will be a collectors item in 30 years!” & “There sure is a lot of junk in there.”


Klondike Kid

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Its more or less a "Coastal Community" coverage around the state since it would be unnecessary for any regions away from the coast. So it covered all SE, PWS, and Southcentral as well as AK Peninsula for Bristol Bay area.

I don't know why the TV news tonight said there was only a few glitches that didn't work since their broadcast of CBS on the Peninsula had no alert...yet tonight's news discussion on that channel showed a Pic in Pic of the Price is Right game show that was on and their "version" showed the ticker tape yellow alert at the top of the screen. Anyway I reported that anomaly to Homeland Security. Ha. I'm at 75 feet above the Inlet in Soldotna so it would have to be a big one to get me! HA.
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Take a Kid Fishing and Hook'em For Life!  ~KK~


crash

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Did it broadcast across all channels on the VHF?  Like you are tuned to say 69 and it gave the alert?  Presumably its the same test they do here in the lower 48. Here in Humboldt they were used for real in March 2011 with the Japanese quake and they test them every year, but I never thought to test what happens on the VHF channels.  In March 2011 they started at 5am and were plenty loud.  Someone died despite ample warning when he went down to the ocean to check it out :(

The thought has crossed my mind as to what to do if I am out in the ocean and a large earthquake hits.  If I can make shore in 15 minutes, haul ass.  If not, head to deeper water and prepare mentally for a night out.  I really hope it never comes to that but the risk is very real in both AK and the PNW.


Klondike Kid

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Did it broadcast across all channels on the VHF?  Like you are tuned to say 69 and it gave the alert?  Presumably its the same test they do here in the lower 48. Here in Humboldt they were used for real in March 2011 with the Japanese quake and they test them every year, but I never thought to test what happens on the VHF channels.  In March 2011 they started at 5am and were plenty loud.  Someone died despite ample warning when he went down to the ocean to check it out :(

The thought has crossed my mind as to what to do if I am out in the ocean and a large earthquake hits.  If I can make shore in 15 minutes, haul ass.  If not, head to deeper water and prepare mentally for a night out.  I really hope it never comes to that but the risk is very real in both AK and the PNW.

Yes, the Alert breaks in to any channel your VHF radio is on and gives an audible alarm and a text message as a Weather Alert warning. On my Standard Horizon I have tab buttons under the display and push the WX button to bring up the Weather channel that is broadcasting the vocal and audible alert.

Yes, I saw the news on that dummy that went to "watch" the tsunami hit the west coast and died. Like ambulance chasers.

As far as your STRATEGY you are right on target with your response. If you can make it to the beach very quickly and jump in your rig and head for high ground THAT is the best action. But if you are more than 15 minutes from shore the best thing is to book ass heading straight for the direction the wave will come and get to the deepest water. Deep water means very low wave height of the tsunami and it may not even be perceivable if you are in 200 feet of water.

FYI - There are a number of scientists on a documentary I saw on PBS that say Oregon is as threatened as CA for the next big one that could result in a tsunami.

I personally I don't think once a year testing is appropriate. It needs to be at the forefront of our minds much more often to produce the best response of community members. Your area has definitely seen some tsunamis. Noyo Harbor is a tsunami magnet!!
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Take a Kid Fishing and Hook'em For Life!  ~KK~


RoxnDox

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Hi KK, thanks.  Yes, it does make more sense to do it regionally, but when has making sense mattered to governments?  Fifty-fifty odds at best ;) 

We do some drills, tests, and exercises around here too, sometimes more effective than others.  The Cascadia Rising drill this last year was one such, a large-scale disaster-response exercise covering both WA and OR, aimed mostly at emergency managers and responders rather than Joe Citizen.  Let's just say that there were many lessons learned about shortcomings that need to be dealt with, at all levels from municipal to federal.

We West-Coasters all have risks from quakes, "equal but different"...  SoCal has their own faults onshore, but nothing nearby as far as subduction zones (the big tsunami producers), most risk is land-based damage not waves.  WA and OR and southern BC have the Cascadia subduction zone with its well-documented history of 9.0ish quakes and large tsunamis right offshore, plus a fair number of inland faults capable of lesser but significant damage.  AK has the Aleutian Trench subduction zone capable just as many large 9+ish quakes and waves, plus the fjord landforms that can locally focus waves to incredible heights.  Yep, my geologist edjamacation makes me talkative about things like faults and volcanoes and all the cool stuff here on the ol' Ring of Fire!   ;D

Living in the lands of "little to no warning" you should always have an awareness of where you're at and what you ought to do.  Might be minimal but it never hurts to glance around and think, 'what if... what would I do'...

Jim
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INSAYN

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I would like to experience a tsunami test via my VHF while at the coast just so I know that I can receive it, as well as hear it. 

Once a year tests may definitely not be enough, but at the same time too many tests could desensitize a person to the alert thinking it was just another test.  This could result in delayed responses by the receiver if they just brush off the alert and kept doing what they were doing and not start moving (if appropriate). 
 

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Klondike Kid

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We do some drills, tests, and exercises around here too, sometimes more effective than others.  The Cascadia Rising drill this last year was one such, a large-scale disaster-response exercise covering both WA and OR, aimed mostly at emergency managers and responders rather than Joe Citizen.  Let's just say that there were many lessons learned about shortcomings that need to be dealt with, at all levels from municipal to federal.

Our news summary on tv after the test reported that emergency preparedness agencies said that of the 75 significant size coastal communities in Alaska that are at risk there are still 25 that have no clue and no organized plan to do a "self rescue" in the event they are in the path of a tsunami. In this day and age, especially with all kinds of grant money and various agencies to educate those communities it will be a tragedy that could have been averted.

We West-Coasters all have risks from quakes, "equal but different"...  SoCal has their own faults onshore, but nothing nearby as far as subduction zones (the big tsunami producers), most risk is land-based damage not waves.  WA and OR and southern BC have the Cascadia subduction zone with its well-documented history of 9.0ish quakes and large tsunamis right offshore, plus a fair number of inland faults capable of lesser but significant damage.  AK has the Aleutian Trench subduction zone capable just as many large 9+ish quakes and waves, plus the fjord landforms that can locally focus waves to incredible heights.  Yep, my geologist edjamacation makes me talkative about things like faults and volcanoes and all the cool stuff here on the ol' Ring of Fire!   ;D

Living in the lands of "little to no warning" you should always have an awareness of where you're at and what you ought to do.  Might be minimal but it never hurts to glance around and think, 'what if... what would I do'...

One only needs to look at the map of Puget Sound and Vancouver Island to see the potential violent geologic events that will eventually occur. VI did not become an island as a result of a hundred million years of very subtle continental drift. :)  Which BTW, when I was in college Continental Drift was still a theory they were working on proving with core samples from the Mid Atlantic Ridge. Yeah, I'm almost as old as dirt!!

My uncle who flew Civil Air Patrol in the 50's, 60's, and early 70's here on the Kenai Peninsula said after the 1964 Alaska Quake there were islands in Prince William Sound that actually rose 30 feet exposing billions of clams that were wiped out. While here in Kenai the mud flats at the mouth of the river dropped six feet....and Anchorage/Turnagain Arm had massive drops in land areas all as a result of liquidfaction during the big shake. So even our dipnetters on the Kenai beaches and in boats in the river could be victims on a massive scale if the timing were right. The inhabitants of the West Coast and Alaska are just sitting on a ticking time bomb.

I would like to experience a tsunami test via my VHF while at the coast just so I know that I can receive it, as well as hear it. 

Once a year tests may definitely not be enough, but at the same time too many tests could desensitize a person to the alert thinking it was just another test.  This could result in delayed responses by the receiver if they just brush off the alert and kept doing what they were doing and not start moving (if appropriate). 

I would suggest tracking down your nearest Coast Guard Auxillary unit and ask them what the schedule may be for the next Tsunami Warning test. I recently went to my first Kenai Auxillary chapter in February and found out they are a very active and concerned group that do boat safety checks and put on many seminars and classes on boating safety, even paddle craft.

About testing frequency, indeed crying wolf too often does desensitize potential victims. Homer was a good example of testing their sirens very often. Even with false alarms at 2am. They don't do that now. But I would suggest that a test schedule be AT LEAST TWICE a year. First test exposes shortcomings, failures of equipment, and other abnormalities that must be corrected. So a second test to make sure all those holes in the boat are filled is absolutely necessary. Otherwise a year later there are still things going wrong. I think I am going to suggest that to our Alaska Homeland Security division.


The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Take a Kid Fishing and Hook'em For Life!  ~KK~


crash

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I personally I don't think once a year testing is appropriate. It needs to be at the forefront of our minds much more often to produce the best response of community members. Your area has definitely seen some tsunamis. Noyo Harbor is a tsunami magnet!!

Crescent City is the real tsunami magnet down here.  One guy died there in the 2011 tsunami when he suffered a heart attack trying to move his boat out to sea early in the morning before the tsunami hit.  13 people died there in the 1964 good friday tsunami.  The 2011 japan quake caused major damage and every large pacific rim quake seems to cause focused tsunami waves in the harbor. 


 

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