Posted on: Thursday, January 13, 2005

EDITORIAL
Tsunami safety is mostly common sense

A positive side effect of the devastating tsunami that swept through the Indian Ocean has been heightened awareness of the dangers of these events here at home.

Because Hawai'i has experienced tsunamis, residents are generally aware of the potential danger and how to respond to it.

To build on that awareness, scientists and civil defense officials are using the Indian Ocean tsunami to heighten public interest and focus on preparedness here.

One interesting and on-going effort is a project at the University of Hawai'i to update statewide tsunami inundation maps. Evacuation maps based on 1991 inundation maps can be found in the front of the telephone book.

Kwok Fai Cheung, chair and professor at the Ocean and Resources Engineering Department at the University of Hawai'i, heads the project to update those maps for the entire state.

Inundation maps are not exactly the same as evacuation maps. Evacuation instructions are based on inundation projections but use other tools as well, such as recognizable landmarks and development patterns, to decide which areas should be required to evacuate if a tsunami should hit.

Cheung's work involves more sophisticated two-dimensional computer models of the ocean floor that should more accurately predict the behavior of waves as they approach land.

Given current manpower and financial resources, Cheung said, it will take several years to complete the update. Areas of greatest immediate concern, such as shorelines that have been developed since the last set of evacuation maps were issued in 1991, will be dealt with first.

This does not mean, Cheung emphasized, that the current evacuation maps are out of date or of no use. Generally speaking, Civil Defense officials took a conservative approach in drawing up evacuation zones.

As the new information becomes available, most evacuation zones will remain effectively the same as they are today.

The state should offer UH the resources it needs to get the new project completed as quickly as possible.

Meantime, the best advice is to worry less about the maps and more about following instructions to head inland when a tsunami alert is sounded.