PORT ANGELES — Beachcombers on the Dungeness Spit and at Clallam Bay will know when to hightail it to higher ground when a tsunami strikes.
Clallam County lawmakers are expected to sign agreements today with the Washington State Military Department for the installation, testing and maintenance of two all-hazard alert broadcasts sirens.
The sirens will be perched 40 feet above the ground on standard power poles.
Get the warning out
“This way, we can get the word out to folks that are out and about on the beach,” said Jamye Wisecup, program coordinator for the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Management Division.
One siren will be installed at the water treatment plant at Clallam Bay. The other will be placed near the Dungeness fire station.
The sirens will join a network of active sirens that stretches from LaPush to the East Jefferson County line.
The federal Department of Commerce will cover the $84,100 cost of the sirens.
Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols has reviewed the agreements that Commissioners Mike Doherty, Steve Tharinger and Mike Chapman will consider today.
Running by next month
Wisecup estimated the new sirens will be up and running by next month.
Clallam County has active tsunami sirens at LaPush, Neah Bay, Lower Elwha, Port Angeles, Sequim and Diamond Point.
Jefferson County also has a string of sirens along its shores.
Tsunami sirens are tested locally on the first Monday of each month. Ten seconds of chimes are followed by a “this is a test” message.
The Emergency Management Division is in charge of making sure the sirens are working property.
Rather than chimes, the sirens “would just blare” in a real tsunami, Wisecup said. The signal would be followed by a message about evacuation.
The second and third waves of a tsunami are often the most dangerous, Wisecup said, because they carry more debris.
An all-clear signal would blare through the sirens after the danger passes.
A major earthquake along the 800-mile Cascadia subduction zone off the Pacific Northwest coast could send water rising through the Strait of Juan de Fuca and into Puget Sound.
The last magnitude 8 or 9 earthquake happened here in 1700. Major earthquakes typically occur in 500-year intervals, according to the Cascadia Region Earthquake Workgroup.
In other discussion during Monday’s work session, Department of Community Development staff said they will apply for a $1 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to update the county’s shoreline master program.
A state appropriation would cover the county’s $165,000 match.
If approved for the three-year grant, the county would use the money to facilitate the “no net loss” component of its shoreline program update, Planning Manager Steve Gray said.
The voter-approved Shoreline Management Act of 1972 gives preferences to shoreline uses that protect water quality and the natural environment.
All 39 counties and each incorporated city must update the state-mandated shoreline master programs by 2014.
The state Department of Ecology will provide technical assistance to Clallam County and the cities of Port Angeles, Sequim and Forks and approve the updates.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
