Big Island to conduct tsunami drill Jan. 27
Advertiser Staff
A full-scale tsunami response exercise will be conducted on the Big Island on Jan. 27.
Hawai'i County Civil Defense administrator Quince Mento said the exercise is the first of its kind in many years.
The training exercise will be highly visible to residents in or near tsunami inundation zones beginning shortly after 8 a.m., when county police, firefighters and county crews will be mobilizing according to their existing tsunami-response plans.
Earthquakes that occur outside of Hawai'i along the Pacific Rim can give Hawai'i as little as four hours to prepare for a tsunami, Big island officials said.
The last significant tsunami generated in the Pacific Rim hit the Big Island in 1960, yet the island remains highly vulnerable to tsunamis generated by seismic activity that can occur anytime, anywhere in the Pacific Ocean, Mento said.
The Jan. 27 exercise will simulate a tsunami generated by an earthquake in Alaska, which would provide four hours of warning before it actually hits here.
County police officers will be assigned to key intersections where traffic would be turned back in the event of an actual tsunami warning. Police officers will be issuing fliers to motorists providing information about what would happen if the real warning were in effect.
Roads will not be barricaded but motorists may experience minor delays. Barricades will be delivered to the intersections as part of the exercise but they will not be erected.
Residents may see lots of vehicle movement exercise, including county trucks, police cars and helicopters on the ground and in the air, and crews with the banners and barricades at their assigned intersections.
The exercise will begin at 8 a.m. and is expected to end by 10 a.m.
The impact on residents is expected to be minimal. Motorists in coastal areas however should drive carefully and be aware that police officers assigned to intersections in tsunami inundation zones may be distributing information about the tsunami exercise.
For more information about the exercise, call Hawai'i County Civil Defense at 808-961-8229.
