I am so excited to learn that our fair city, albeit our “drunken city”, has been certified as “tsunami prepared.” I knew those signs going up on Newport Avenue meant something. I just wasn’t sure what it meant. According to Channel 6 News (CW)
“Thursday morning Mayor Sanders accepted a letter of recognition on behalf of the city from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, which has certified San Diego’s tsunami and storm preparedness. San Diego is the largest city in the nation to receive this tsunami certification.”
Don’t you feel much better knowing that when – and if – a tsunami comes ashore we are prepared for it? Let’s see – what should I do first?
Well, I guess I had better get down to Newport Ave. and follow the evacuation plan. But wait – I may not be able to get to Newport because of all the water coming over the pier. So what do I do next? Where do I go? How far inland do I have to go? How much time do I have? Is Santa Barbara Street far enough? Should I go over the hill and down the hill to San Diego Bay. Will the tsunami hit the Bay too? Should I bring a snorkel and goggles.
Come on, folks. What in the hell does it mean to be “tsunami prepared”? I can understand the “Craft-Beer Month”, but don’t the residents of San Diego need to know what to do if a tsunami hits? How proud the Mayor was in accepting this certification. To me – it’s another boondoggle.
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Has anyone else noticed how Wider Curry is going after our poor Mayor Sanders? If I didn’t know better, I’d suspect she was gearing up a campaign run against him LOL!
Thank goodness you know better!
How is that possible? I live 1/2 block from beach and i never received anything in the mail to tell me what to do nor did any of my neighbors? I do see the signs on the light poles but what if i didnt? should people that live by the water have drills or at least be advised? What happens when the water level is over the height of the signs?
If a tsunami hits I suppose my wife and I (assuming we survive) will just have to jump on our stand up paddle boards we recently purchased from OB surf shop, carry a good supply of our local craft beers and just paddle away. To where I’m not sure. If the tsunami and the big quake hit at the same time and California fall into the ocean then I guess we will have to paddle to Zona and seek help from Sheriff Joe. Hopefully he won’t want any of our craft beers.
Hey “I Love The Outdoors” and “Goatskull”. My point exactly. Just what does this certification mean? Ya know what? I bet that the City cannot afford to send us the flyers telling us what to do in case of a tsunami. That is probably one of the things that was red-lined when budget cuts were made.
I’m crossing my fingers the cliffs absorb most, if not all, of the impact, should we get a real tsunami…failing that, I’ve got renters’ insurance. But it’s hard to see a wave rising over 30′ of cliff and still having enough impact to rip my house off its foundation or anything.
The real concern is the number of liquor stores (many) down by the beach versus the number (two) protected by the cliffs – if they ones in the low lands are wiped out, will we have enough craft beer to go around until reinforcements arrive?
At least now I understand why Stone moved its brewing facilities farther inland – protection from the coming killer wave.
“At least now I understand why Stone moved its brewing facilities farther inland – protection from the coming killer wave.”
They’ve always been pretty far inland. They moved from San Marcos to Escondido. I think they started off pretty far inland in the first place because they already knew about the possibilities of tsunamis in San Diego. Mayor Sanders contacted Greg Koch to get the lowdown.
Yeah, I knew that one was a bit of a stretch, what with a whole two cities between San Marcos and the ocean already…
On Mission Blvd in Mission Beach, the tsunami evacuation route points south instead of north to PB and up the hill to LaJolla. Someone didn’t read their elevation maps.
The only problem is that I don’t live in LaJolla; I don’t live on Newport Ave. where the signs are posted, and I have no idea what or where the elevation maps can be found. And let me get this straight: If you go South in Mission Beach, you are not headed to La Jolla; you are headed towards Ocean Beach. What street are you supposed to travel on? Certainly not the street that parallels the Ocean. Going south on Mission will lead you directly into the ocean. Something is wrong here.
Dave and Goatskull – better pack some of the Craft Beer in your emergency kit.
Got an emergancy supply already.
I have a few bombers bottle-conditioning as we speak…just in case, of course.
The only way south out of Mission Beach is West Mission Bay Drive and right up Mission Valley or Sea World Drive, neither with enough elevation to save you. North will take you up hill. In OB, the best bet is the Point Loma hills: east on Voltaire to the High School.
At least OB has a big hill in much of its back yard. I would think heading uphill for some altitude should come naturally to most. But being informed about escape routes or not, I’ll tell you where I would NOT want to be if there’s very short notice of an incoming tsunami: South Mission.
Let’s see … what would happen if everyone followed the sign that points up Newport? There’d be a traffic jam – great – caught in traffic and the water is rising rapidly.
And Judi, don’t go over the hill to the Bay, it’ll flood down there as well.
Not necessarily . A Tsunami could slam right into OB from the pier north to PB , and not make a direct hit onto the other side of Point Loma . It could wrap around , and cause some damage , but it would have to be pretty powerful to make it in to OB and up and over the hill towards Downtown . Either way , up makes sense . Up and then back down ? Why ?
If something big enough to make it over the top is coming , let’s hope we have plenty of notice .
i’m glad i live up on a hill……i don’t think you can be prepared for a tsunami, other than to just run……
Waiting for the tsunami of craft beer…just for surfing purposes of course.
Point Loma was essentially an island until man got ahold of the landscape. The h2o would wash down Nimitz to the N.T.C. and we’d be an island again. All the trash and cars would be swept out of the area to the bay(San Diego bay) and up into Mission Valley.Then the gentrification could properly begin.
I assume you all do a lot of web surfing, which is how I found this stream of comments on Tsunami-Ready. Maybe you should do some web searches. As a former gov employee of the National Weather Service, this program begun to help communities become aware of the issue. If you go to NWS page and see what is required to become certified, much of this is focused on the local government and emergency services being prepared to assist and direct the people in the communities should an event occur. This involves operational plans (who does what), local TV and radio focal points, medical services, etc, and many coastal communities never had this detail in an ops plan to follow. The same is true for the midwest, where communities are StormReady, which means the local gov (e.g., EM, Sheriffs) are prepared to alert people of tornadoes, etc. USGS and others now have inundation maps (and you might check them out). Perhaps you all should investigate what these things mean rather than making uninformed comments.
Perhaps, Ms. Mary, the public should know what being “storm ready” is all about.
It is all good to have, in place emergency services, local media focal points, medical services, etc., but if the community has not been informed of these plans, they are, in fact, useless. It is not up to me to do the research of what “tsunami certification” means. It is up to the powers that be – the mayor? – to inform the public of what steps should be taken – not a novice web surfer. My comments were not uninformed. My comments were more “tongue in cheek” – than anything else. Perhaps you should do more reading of my columns.
I assume that it is a good idea to head up the hill and away from the beach. And I assume Darwin would not be surprised when some, like during the last warning, head to the beach and lower ground. Signs and maps don’t make people smarter.
I really dont think everybody can fit on the top of the hill? How can the mayor get away with that? Shouldnt he be called out on it? someone call Turko