Coronado's Most Read Newspaper & Community Website

Tsunami - City of Coronado Emergency Operations Plan

Note: This post was provided by Mike Blood, Division Chief/Fire Marshal

----

The City of Coronado Emergency Operations Plan provides a comprehensive emergency management system for the effective management of emergency incidents. Addressed in the plan under Attachment "A - Specific Hazards", the City has identified a number of hazards to which we are most vulnerable. While local Tsunami events are rare, and to date damage in San Diego has been limited to its harbors, we recognize the city's vulnerability based on its low elevation level and proximity to the Coronado Bank Fault. The coastline adjacent to the City of Coronado has a very shallow and large ocean floor. This type of underwater terrain would greatly diminish the speed and impact of any tsunami that might affect the City.

Two types of Tsunami could affect the coastal area of California. The first is considered a Local-Source Tsunami. A Local-Source Tsunami stems from the effects of a large earthquake in close proximity to our coastal waters. This type of Tsunami offers limited time for authorities to issue a warning. People on the beach or in other low lying areas identified on our local inundation map should move immediately to areas of higher ground as soon as possible and stay there until they are told by officials that the event has passed. In Coronado higher ground or safe refuge is achieved by moving inland away from the immediate coastline or above the ground floor in a high-rise or multi-story building constructed of reinforced concrete. The second type of Tsunami is considered a Distant-Source Tsunami. While these waves may also be generated by large earthquakes, they come from other areas of the Pacific Ocean reaching our coastline many hours after the earthquake has occurred. This type of Tsunami offers the local authorities some time to communicate such an event to our citizens.

The City maintains two distinct methods of emergency incident communication or notification systems. The first method is provided through the County of San Diego. Telephone notifications are sent to residents and businesses impacted by, or in danger of being impacted by, an emergency or disaster. This system, called Alert San Diego, will be used by emergency response personnel to notify those homes and businesses at risk with information on the event and/or actions (such as evacuation) we are asking them to take. The system utilizes the region's 9-1-1 database, provided by the local telephone companies, and thus is able to contact land-line telephones whether listed or unlisted. If you have a Voice over IP (VoIP) or cellular telephone and would like to be notified over that device, or if you would like an email notification, you must register those telephone numbers and/or email address for use by the system. You may register your information by signing up here or contacting alertsandiego@sdcounty.ca.gov. The second method of notification is provided through our Emergency Siren System. The City of Coronado has three sirens to alert the community in the event of a pending disaster. The sirens are located at the Headquarters Fire Station on Sixth Street, Glorietta Bay Park, and at the Cays Fire Station at Coronado Cays Boulevard and Grand Caribe Causeway. Coronado's Emergency Siren System was designed to alert the community in the event of a disaster or potential disaster. In that situation, residents can tune into the San Diego County Emergency Alerting System (AM 600 KOGO radio). Residents would receive accurate and timely information on what steps they should take during the emergency through these two vital systems.

There are three levels specific to Tsunamis and the level of severity associated with them. The terms used to describe the level of threat are a Warning, a Watch, and an Advisory. The highest level of Tsunami alert is termed as a Tsunami Warning. A Tsunami Warning indicates a dangerous tsunami may have been generated and could be close to your area. Warnings are issued when an earthquake is detected that meets the location and magnitude criteria for the generation of a tsunami. The warning includes predicted tsunami arrival times at selected coastal communities within the geographic area defined by the maximum distance the tsunami could travel in a few hours. A Tsunami Watch means a dangerous tsunami has not yet been verified but could exist and may be as little as an hour away. A watch—issued along with a tsunami warning—predicts additional tsunami arrival times for a geographic area defined by the distance the tsunami could travel in more than a few hours. Advisories are issued to coastal populations within areas not currently in either warning or watch status when a tsunami warning has been issued for another region of the same ocean.

In conclusion, the City of Coronado does have an Emergency Operations Plan in place. We do not provide an evacuation plan that directs our citizens through low lying areas of concern or rely on the bridge as our sole evacuation route. We do recognize the importance of communication and believe that safe refuge in conjunction with limited evacuations provide a prudent and reasonable solution.

Mike Blood, Division Chief/Fire Marshal

Tags: city of coronado, community

4 members like this

Comment by eCoronado on March 15, 2011 at 9:39am: Thank you Mike for this timely information. We will be sure to notify our readers of this post immediately.

Comment by Councilwoman Barbara Denny on March 16, 2011 at 9:03am: Thank you, Division Chief Blood, for providing this important public information.

Comment by KATIA KABANOV on March 19, 2011 at 1:54pm: Thank you for this information, my daughter is a 13 year old young lady and talks of Tsunami and Earthquakes are very disturbing to her and alot of her friends. I think it is very important to talk to children and provide as much assurance of safety for them. : )

Comment by Rachael on March 22, 2011 at 10:22am: Thanks so much for posting this Steve! I was wondering what would happen with the reverse 911 calls, as we have digital phone. I had heard that this is a problem in emergency situations. I used your link to register my cell phone - yay! I also dowloaded the Family Disaster Plan and will get that going with my kids. Thanks for always being so on it!!

Comment by MIKE GAPP on March 22, 2011 at 11:25am: Well done, Brother Blood.

Mike Gapp

Comment by Tonia Accetta on March 22, 2011 at 12:31pm: Much appreciated and timely information. We do have an IP phone system and will register our information now thanks to this post.

Comment by Lei Udell on March 22, 2011 at 11:01pm: Thank you for the information. I was unable to find a copy of the City's plan, the inundation map, or other info on the City's website-- where is it located? Thanks.

Comment by Elisa on March 26, 2011 at 9:52am: http://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/geologic_hazards/Tsunami/Inundat...

Comment by Sandy Shortt on April 11, 2011 at 8:59pm: Here in Coronado, where we certainly have reason to think about the possibility of a tsunami, a coincidence has occurred. The presidents of two of our local garden clubs had strong connections to Japan during the recent crisis there.
The son and daughter in law of Ginny Osgood, President of the Crown Garden Club, were on a bullet train in an isolated area in Japan when the 9 point quake struck. Ken and Rachel were on their way to catch a plane back to the states, but because the train was stopped for five hours it was obvious they would miss their flight. Ken is Dr. Kenneth Osgood, visiting professor of political history at Williams College, Williamstown, MA, who was invited to give a presentation on Atoms for Peace at the University of Tokyo. Ken was born & raised in Coronado. The couple called Ginny and her husband Frank to ask for help. The couple went through many frantic hours trying to book them a flight back to the states. Meanwhile in Japan, after many attempts and difficult circumstances the young couple got to the airport. Their parents were able to secure two seats and they flew back to the US, returning safely and not much later than their original reservation.
Meanwhile down in the Cays, Sylvia Brown, President of the Bridge & Bay Garden Club was awake during the night taking in all the news available. In the wee hours of the morning a call came from her husband Fred, who was at the airport in Narita, located between Tokyo and the coast, awaiting his flight home when the first two big quakes hit just five minutes apart. Fred has long been involved with the CERT (Coronado Emergency Response Team) and CERO (ham radio operators) programs and is experienced in how to help during a crisis, but had never been on the receiving end of one. When asked how he handled the situation "Terrible, terrible. It was frustrating to sit by and do nothing. It would be good to give victims a task. There are lots of lessons to be learned by the people on the 'helping' side. There should be a person who would answer victim's questions and another to help contact family members" he said.
Fred is an engineer and was in China consulting in Shanghai and Beijing on thermal management. He had an hour and a half layover in Narita when he felt the trembler. He said, "I held on to a pole with all my might and just watched. I was truly lucky." With the help of the airport’s Wi-Fi, fellow traveler's computers and Skype he was able to contact Sylvia who successfully arranged for his ticket home. He was in LA by late Saturday reporting “The 8.9 was indescribable.”