Newport to be declared ‘tsunami-ready’

When word of an earthquake and a tsunami warning spread through Newport Beach on June 14, 2005, the city Police Department received more than 600 calls, and people trying to leave the Balboa Peninsula caused a two-hour traffic jam.

City officials don’t want that to happen again, so they’ve updated their disaster plans, posted new warning signs, and taken other steps that will culminate in the city’s official recognition on Jan. 9 as “tsunami-ready” by the National Weather Service.

And the preparations will continue through 2007 as the city offers a presentation on tsunami readiness, education through schools and homeowners’ associations, and ongoing emergency training courses for residents, said Katie Freeman, emergency services coordinator for the Newport Beach Fire Department.

“We want to show residents that we are doing something and that we do take the threat of a tsunami very seriously,” Freeman said.

The public has been increasingly aware of tsunamis since the December 2004 tsunami that devastated Indonesia and parts of other countries that border the Indian Ocean, said Ed Clark, a National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist in San Diego.

Newport Beach will be the third city in Orange County to be deemed tsunami-ready, after Dana Point and San Clemente, Clark said.

The requirements include having a response plan and a public education program, and having several ways to receive a tsunami warning and get that information to the public, he said.

Since the June 2005 warning, which was called off within hours of being issued, the city has created a specific plan including evacuation routes in the event of a tsunami watch, warning or event, Freeman said. A map of the city’s low-lying areas — including the peninsula and West Newport — will be posted on the city’s website, www.city.newport-beach.ca.us, this week.

Signs have been posted at all city beaches to warn visitors they’re in a tsunami-hazard zone, and emergency workers held a tsunami drill in May. The city also has weather radios at the police and fire stations, and top public safety officials get notifications of earthquakes from the National Weather Service and the Alaska Tsunami Warning Center.

Educating the community will be a large component of the city’s efforts to prepare, Freeman said. That’s why a public presentation is scheduled for Jan. 16 that will explain the earthquake and tsunami threat to the area and tell residents what they can do to get ready.

The city continues to offer emergency training classes, and the fire Department will schedule presentations with any of the city’s more-than 160 homeowners’ associations if they request them, Freeman said.

Residents will be told what supplies they should have ready and how best to get to higher ground.

To avoid the 2005 traffic jams, Freeman said, “We want to encourage people to carpool, but you have to have your disaster kits in order and ready to go. That’s why we’re pushing education.”

For information on Newport Beach’s tsunami preparations, call (949) 644-3109.

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