Non-Structural Mitigation Activities: Warning Systems

Warning Systems

Developing effective warning systems is an essential non-structural mitigation activity. Hurricane forecasts typically provide a few days' advance notice of the potential for a hurricane; storm surge forecasts are not as mature but still provide enough time for emergency managers to issue warnings. Water level, the elevation and location of the property or infrastructure, and real-time conditions of tide-gates are key elements of a storm surge warning system. After Superstorm Sandy, a storm surge warning system was developed for Meadowlands District in New Jersey that can provide storm surge forecast maps at least three hours in advance.

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Figure 11.5: A storm surge warning system for several Mid-Atlantic states in the United States. Developed by the Davison Laboratory of the Stevens Institute of Technology, this system provides real-time water level data for the public and emergency managers. This warning system can be viewed online at http://hudson.dl.stevens-tech.edu/maritimeforecast/
Credit: Urban Ocean Observatory at Davidson Laboratory

Establishing detection and warning systems are particularly relevant to tsunami policy. After a 1946 tsunami killed 160 people in Hilo, Hawaii and 5 in Alaska, the United States established its first tsunami warning center in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. This center, now known as the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), is responsible for issuing most tsunami warnings for areas bordering the Pacific Ocean. A center in Palmer, Alaska, currently known as the National Tsunami Warning Center, provides warnings for Alaska, the Pacific coast of Canada, and the Pacific coast of the continental United States.

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Figure 11.6: People running from the 1946 Tsunami in Hilo, Hawaii. Note the tsunami impinging on the palm trees in the photo's background.
Credit: USGS

Following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which cost hundreds of thousands of people their lives, the United States spearheaded an effort to establish regional warning systems worldwide for coastal regions vulnerable to tsunami. Initial responsibility for managing the Indian Ocean and Caribbean Sea systems fell to the PTWC, but the Indian Ocean system is now administered by national government organizations in Australia, India, and Indonesia, while a Caribbean Sea center is currently being established in Puerto Rico. Together with the North Atlantic and Mediterranean Tsunami Warning System, a European partnership, these organizations provide critical early warnings for tsunami events that serve an important preparedness function for regions exposed to tsunami.