How Would Los Angeles Handle a Tsunami Warning?

[CitySky]

Hi all,

I'm still somewhat traumatized from my own experience leaving Houston late last week (25 hours to a friend's house near Austin, 5 adults in a small car without turning on the A/C, a touch of heat exhaustion) but am also thinking of various observations we made along the way.

One of the people in my car was a friend from Boston who was here as a Red Cross volunteer helping Katrina evacuees until she became a Rita evacuee herself. She said, "as bad as this was, it would have been far worse in New York." We thought about a metro area of 18 million people as opposed to 4.5 million people, one where everyday pleasantries are not so everyday and the stress level of life is already a couple of notches higher than here in Houston. We seriously feared that shooting would break out over dwindling gas supplies but there was no violence. In fact we saw kindness. We saw the good people of FM 529, a rural route west of Houston, who had set up little stations in front of their houses to pass out water in cups. One guy had even parked his pick-up at the base of his driveway and used it to prop up a big sheet of plywood on which he had spray-painted, "RESTRMS -->". A roadside bar called Pete's Oasis was serving up cans of soda with cups of precious ice as long as it would last. They told us if the storm came their way, their plan was to wait it out in the walk-in cooler. :)

I also thought about L.A. Years ago I lived in the "City of Angels" for a while, and determined that I was closely surrounded by the nine million loneliest people on the planet. Perhaps that said more about my state of mind at the time than it did about the city, I don't know. I thought, "well, it's a good thing California doesn't get hurricanes, forest fires only hit certain areas at a time, and earthquakes don't give you any warning, because there is NO WAY that area could evacuate in time." Then I thought, "tsunami." Imagine a big earthquake off the coast of Japan sending a big one to L.A. Imagine 48 hours' notice. What would Los Angeles do? Well, if there is anything to be learned from experience, the time to start thinking about it is NOW.

1. GOVERNMENT: Institute "contraflow" on all major highways IMMEDIATELY. Keep the outside lane of the feeder road OR an HOV lane with separate entrances available for gas deliveries and emergency vehicles inbound, and all other lanes outbound. Have a plan to do this the very hour the warning is sounded.

2. PEOPLE: Anyone without a full tank of gas is messed up. All stations will sell out immediately. After what I went through here in Houston, I'll probably be "topping off" every time my car goes down a quarter of a tank for a mightly long time, maybe forever during hurricane seasons. Luckily I topped off on Tuesday so had plenty when we hit the road early Thursday a.m.

3. PEOPLE: Get a motorcycle or scooter. If you want to assure your own survival and rats to everyone else, this seems to me the best bet. Most of our trip I could have done faster on a BICYCLE for Pete's sake than in my car.

4. PEOPLE: Carry more WATER than you think you could possible need, especially if the weather is hot. Carry ICE. In fact, just keep a bunch of water bottles in your freezer at all times and take a cooler full of those. They'll melt eventually. In retrospect, I don't think drinking the hot water (and I mean HOT) from the bottles in my car actually helped my heat exhaustion much. Cool water and ice were the next most valuable commodities after gasoline (which was not to be had anywhere.)

5. GOVERNMENT: Keep more emergency supplies of gas near critical transportation junctures in these major cities. There is supposed to be a supply; let's put it where it will help and use it when needed.

6. PEOPLE: PUT MORE THAN ONE PERSON IN EACH FREAKING CAR! We noticed some cars like ours, crammed full of people, but more cars and SUV's and trucks that, whether crammed full of "stuff" or not had only one or two human beings in them. And yes some were hauling boats (idiots.) We saw one guy in a pick-up truck that was carrying one sole possession: his big-screen TV. Lucky it didn't rain. Then I came home to reports of people in middle-class suburbs evacuating ALL of the 3 or 4 family cars rather than risking damage to them - HELLO, EVER HEARD OF INSURANCE? I don't know a quick way to solve the class and race segregation of our society that keeps most people of that sphere from even KNOWING someone who might not have a car, but if we could have made it mandatory to have at least 4 people per car we would have all gotten out of here a lot quicker. Seriously, for Los Angeles they could have a checkpoint that is on a working bus route -- if you don't have enough people in your car, you can't continue. So here are 2 people who don't have cars; these will be your passengers, move on. Next. Okay this one might be a bit impractical but I am saying it would be IDEAL if all of L.A. had to clear out in 48 hours.

Like I said I'm still not quite myself, but I hope this provided some food for thought. Peace.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. Question

How far inland do you have to get to be out of harm's way? I understood in Thailand even half a mile on foot at a leisurely pace would have sufficed.

I've never been to LA. Don't know the geography.

[CitySky]

2. I think it depends on whether there are hills

The bulk of L.A. is in a flat basin with mountains around the edges - that's why the air is so bad; all of the smog just stays in the bowl. Maybe if a mile or two inland is enough then L.A. will never need to evacuate. I hope they never do.

[spinbaby]

5. In LA, you'd head for the hills for the tsunami warning

It's not far but that's where the rich people live. Could get interesting when the poor folk of the lowlands head for Beverly Hills.

[Terran]

15. Bev Hills is in the Basin

I don't know, maybe the city of Beverly Hills has a few hills in it, but the city lies smack in the middle of the flat LA basin. The real hills (and mountains) that comprise the ring around the Basin are not inhabited only by rich folk; many of those communities, like where I grew up (Altadena) are very middle class.

I think it would take an impossibly huge wave to flood the entire LA Basin; it's not like New Orleans, it's a much larger geographical feature. I doubt you'd actually have to head for the hills to be safe, just get away from the coastal areas.

[Kerrytravelers]

3. As a LA resident, Mr. kt and I are ready for any emergency.

We have emergency bins in both cars and at home. We have everything we would want to take (which is only old family pictures we can't replace and our kitty) in one place (all the pics and kitty car carrier are next to one another near the door) and we never let the gas fall below 3/4 of a tank---> ever! We have sevreal meeting places miles away staked out and a call list so we can reconnect if we get seperated.

We clearly can't depend upon our government to keep us safe. We felt that the day * was selected. Now our worst beliefs were proven true.

[CitySky]

8. You ARE prepared!

I grew up in California, and when my mom was on the earthquake preparedness committee of a college where she worked, we used to tease her for keeping toilet paper and peanut butter (among other items) in the trunk of each car at all times. To a teenager, the existence of toilet paper is embarrassing, never mind having to move it aside to fit stuff in the car. She also had a 5-gallon jug of water, with a touch a bleach to kill bacteria, stored in the broom closet, and still changes the water every year. But not letting your gas drop below 3/4 takes some discipline. Kudos to you!

Okay, I feel a LITTLE better about L.A. - mostly people would just need to head uphill. It would still be a mess, but survivable.

[damntexdem]

19. That is one thing about California in general:

earthquake preparedness means that people have supplies if they can survive the immediate threat.

[SteppingRazor]

4. You have a lot less than 48 hours...

Tsunamis travel at above 300 mph. You've got more like 10 hours. It would have to be a gigantic tsunami to effect most of L.A. -- maybe an earthquake in Japan that causes an eastern portion of the island to slide into the ocean, for example.

In any case, having grown up there myself, I think the result of a tsunami would be widespread death and destruction -- AND THAT'S BEFORE THE TSUNAMI HITS!

Hey-o! Thanks, everyone! Tip your waitresses and bartenders.

Seriously, though, I do think such a warning would probably result in widespread lawlessness. It's just the way L.A. is. It's kind of a mean city.

[bananas]

18. Travel time maps

These are kind of interesting.
http://wcatwc.arh.noaa.gov/ttt/ttt.htm

[damntexdem]

20. My God! Planning!

Somebody tell the Arabian Horse Association!

[Richard D]

6. Much of L.A.

is above the level that a tsunami would affect. There would be problems in low-lying areas like Venice, coastal Malibu, parts of Santa Monica and Marina del Rey, but I don't think it would go really far inland.

[shanti]

23. don't forget orange county

newport beach, lido isle, etc. would be too...

[kevinmc]

7. We would all be stuck on the Freeway n/t

[Igel]

9. Well said.

But parts of LA would be safe unless it was a truly monster tsunami. Santa Monica has a cliff, Pico and points north are probably ok. I've biked the area. It's not a completely flat plain, and more importantly it's far from level--it slants upward from Inglewood north, and from the coast to inland. I'd hate to be in San Pedro or Torrance, though, during a tsunami.

It apparently was the first time TexDOT ever did contraflow--the claim is it sounds easy on paper, but during an evacuation is harder to actually organize. Esp. over 100 miles of freeway. (I'd imagine you'd have to position a policeman at every entrance.) I think there's another "known unknown" for them to get to know.

[damntexdem]

21. But LA freeways are metered.

Getting people to obey the lights is another matter; but there is a system that could help institute contraflow.

[bananas]

10. There was a west coast tsunami warning last June

At first I thought it was a joke when I heard it on the radio.

[Larissa238]

11. Nobody here paid attention to it

I live in the poor areas, and there is nothing we can do. We dont have cars or anything. I just have my bike, and I would go to my stepdad's. He lives in the hills next to Hollywood.

[bananas]

14. Fortunately it was a false alarm

I think the wave was 2 inches? Something really small.

[bananas]

13. Here's an article about it

7.0 quake shakes up North Coast
Crescent City residents flee after tsunami warning
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/06/15/MNGDVD8PJ11.DTL
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
A 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked the ocean floor Tuesday night about 90 miles southwest of Crescent City, sparking a short-lived tsunami warning across Northern California's coast and prompting a partial evacuation of the coastal town.
...

[bananas]

12. LA to draw up tsunami evacuation plan, offer free transit passes to Katrin

I just found this article:

LA to draw up tsunami evacuation plan, offer free transit passes to Katrina refugees
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/4008.html

[KharmaTrain]

16. You Read My Mind...

I posted a similar scenario to yours last Friday as the traffic mess in Houston became real bad.

Recently I was in LA and while driving the Santa Monica Freeway I wondered what would happen if a Tsunami were to come ashore in that area and where the hell would I go. The coastal areas of Santa Monica, Venice and Marina Del Rey would be a disaster...highly populated and relatively low land.

Getting out of town...say if a Typhoon (isn't that what it would be called?) were to hit that area...knowing there was 24 or 48 hour to get out...how would I? That'd be a nightmare I'd hate to contemplate, since the best ways out are to the East and into the desert or to the north through the passes up to Lancaster and beyond. Either way, the traffic would at a standstill.

Even on the best days the 405 is a portable parking...imagine several million people trying to cram on that, the 101 and 10 to get out of town. Those are the best roads out and it'd be a real treat...since the next real major cities to to north is Fresno and San Bernadino to the east. On a good day, a trip from Downtown LA to these areas are 3 hours or more...imagine with millions of cars trying to cram into the few good hotels, motels and gas stations?

Oh...and did I forget the mention the several million from Orange County and North County San Diego who will also head in those directions to find safety.

I love LA and California...I dread what will happen if a serious natural disaster would occur.

Peace...

[damntexdem]

22. I used to live in Long Beach. I wouldn't want to be there in a tsunami.

But the evacuation would not have to be that far inland for a tsunami.

And I rather doubt that typhoons can hit the west coast -- the Humboldt Current keeps the Pacific rather cold, even as far south as LA.

[damntexdem]

17. Hollywood would quickly make a made-for-TV movie, ...

the water district would plan to pump all the seawater east of the Sierras,
thousands would flock to the suddenly-extended beaches,
and the tsunami would crash into the wall of smog and go around.

More seriously, the San Gabriels are very closeby, and there IS public transportation. The problem is that a tsunami gives less warning than a hurricane: hours at most instead of days. Still, there are hills everywhere to head to -- unless the rich who tend to occupy them try to keep others off. And the Orange County coast would be in greater danger than LA County. But just think of the surfing at Huntington Beach!