Everyone in Humboldt County heard about the 7.0 earthquake and tsunami warning. The widespread panic that ensued was complete and total chaos, and it left gridlock traffic in Eureka for almost an hour after.
Luckily there was not a tsunami, but if there was, the damage to the cities of Humboldt, and the lives of citizens, would have been catastrophic. People stranded on bridges above the bay would have been overtaken by water and the bridges themselves may have collapsed. The long lines of cars stuck in Eureka would have also been hit, and the bottoms of Arcata would have had similar problems.
All of this could have been avoided if people had known the safety measures that had been put in place.
It’s no one person’s fault necessarily, but it would have been good if people were more aware of what to do.
Humboldt County has been using this as an opportunity to push tsunami protocol out to people, which is good, but it raises questions about what we were supposed to do before we knew this information. It would have been good to know during the scare.
It shouldn’t take such a near miss for the county to take action.
So, I decided to make a memorable little list of what to do in case of a tsunami warning!
What to do:
1) Know your zones and where you are in relation to the ocean (if you’re already in a safe zone, STAY THERE).
2) Walk to high ground– it is imperative that you walk, the road will quickly be full of traffic, leaving people stranded
3) Wait. There.
Arcata High School is a designated safe zone. If you want to be safe, you stay where you are, at school. If you’re not at school, go there. It’s as simple as that. Many people left school after the warning. Maybe they didn’t know it was a safe zone, and maybe they just didn’t want to be at school and found a perfect excuse, but Arcata High School is the safest place to be, whether you like it or not.
