NOAA Recognizes San Francisco as TsunamiReady™
December 10, 2008
High resolution (Credit: NOAA)
San Francisco has completed NOAA's National Weather Service TsunamiReady™ recognition program, better equipping the city to prepare and warn its citizens for tsunamis. San Francisco is now the most populous city in the United States to achieve TsunamiReady™ recognition and joins more than 60 TsunamiReady™ communities throughout the country, including 14 in California.
Marking this achievement, city officials received a TsunamiReady™ toolkit that includes road signs that identify tsunami inundation zones, evacuation routes and safe areas. Mark Tew, deputy director of the National Weather Service Western Region and Dave Reynolds meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service forecast office in Monterey presented the toolkit today at Ocean Beach.
"We're proud to have partnered with the National Weather Service on our comprehensive tsunami readiness program, and that we've become the largest city in the nation to earn the TsunamiReady™ designation," said Mayor Gavin Newsom.
“Tsunamis, although rare, are a real threat to the city since seismic activity is possible from the Cascadia Subduction zone located just offshore,” said Tew.
To be recognized as TsunamiReady™ and StormReady®, a community must:
- Establish a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center;
- Have more than one way to receive tsunami and severe weather warnings and forecasts to alert the public;
- Create a system that monitors local weather conditions;
- Promote the importance of public readiness through community seminars; and
- Develop a formal hazardous weather plan, which includes training severe weather spotters and holding emergency exercises.
“Becoming TsunamiReady™ is an important part of our mission to enhance the city’s preparedness for any type of hazard,” said Rob Dudgeon, deputy director of the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management.
Disaster preparedness is everyone's responsibility. Educating yourself and your family on environmental hazards, maintaining a disaster supply kit, and having an emergency plan in place, are all proactive ways you can be better prepared.
The TsunamiReady™ and StormReady® programs are part of NOAA National Weather Service's working partnership with the International Association of Emergency Managers, the National Emergency Management Association, and the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. The TsunamiReady™ and StormReady® recognitions expire in three years, after which the city will go through a renewal process.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.