With the Dec. 5 tsunami warning that impacted communities throughout the West Coast still fresh on the mind, the Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services will prepare staff for future wave events during California Tsunami Preparedness Week, March 22 through 30. The annual event is an excellent opportunity for the public to learn about their location in relation to local tsunami inundation zones and prepare for a potential tsunami. 

In December, the approximately 600 DHHS staff working within Eureka inundation zones successfully walked from their offices to pre-designated assembly points when the tsunami alert was issued following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake off the Mendocino Coast. Workers waited until the tsunami warning had been lifted before returning to their offices. Having trained well during last year’s Tsunami Preparedness Week walks, staff will continue to build muscle memory and assist new co-workers to their locations on higher ground. 

An understandable response to a major earthquake that results in a near-source tsunami warning could be to get into a vehicle and drive away. However, as witnessed during the Dec. 5 seismic event, it’s anticipated that roadways will be full of cars so an attempt to drive might prove fatal. Instead, DHHS employees will participate again in walking evacuation drills, crossing Broadway and Fourth and Fifth streets to pre-designated rally locations. 

Do you have questions about your workplace, home, child’s school or recreational areas and how they could be impacted? Prominent blue tsunami evacuation route signs throughout coastal regions announce those danger areas. The Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group has posted updated Tsunami Hazard Maps which were completed by the California Geological Survey. Check them out here: rctwg.humboldt.edu/tsunami-hazard-maps.

In an effort to improve communitywide response during tsunami warnings, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services will be coordinating a March 26 North Coast Tsunami Drill on that Wednesday at 11 a.m., joining Del Norte and Mendocino counties. A Humboldt Alert public warning system will be issued to registrants’ phones. Ways to participate as well as registration is available at bit.ly/NCTsunamiDrillForm. 

To learn more about California’s 2025 Tsunami Preparedness Week, visit tsunamizone.org/california.

Staff from DHHS’s Koster Campus cross Broadway toward higher ground during 2024 Tsunami Preparedness Week trainings. 

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