Salem, Oregon – On parts of the Oregon coast, the difference between safety and disaster could come down to a few minutes, and how far a person can travel after the ground stops moving.
That reality is at the center of a new state resource aimed at helping coastal communities plan places to escape upward when natural high ground is simply too far away.
The Oregon Department of Emergency Management has released Oregon’s Tsunami Vertical Evacuation Structure Guidance, outlining how communities can evaluate, plan and develop structures designed to provide refuge above expected tsunami flooding.
The threat behind the guidance is severe. During a major Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake, shaking could continue for three minutes or longer. A locally generated tsunami could begin flooding coastal communities in Oregon, Washington, Northern California and British Columbia as little as 10 minutes after the shaking begins.
For some Oregon communities, immediately heading toward natural high ground still may not provide enough time.
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Vertical evacuation structures are intended to close that gap. They can include engineered towers, berms, specially designed buildings and other elevated platforms placed where residents and visitors can reach them more quickly.
“Oregon’s coastal communities face some of the most urgent tsunami risks in the nation, and this guidance provides several considerations for tsunami safety that can inform locally driven solutions,” OEM Director Erin McMahon said.
McMahon said the guidance combines current hazard science with practical planning, design and community engagement tools while weighing geography, costs and the advantages and disadvantages of different approaches.
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The document covers evacuation timelines and challenges, possible structure types, case studies, project planning, financing strategies and community engagement. It also addresses technical expertise, regulatory requirements, Oregon’s Tsunami Hazard Overlay Zone and mapping and GIS resources.
The goal is not to prescribe one design for every coastal community. Instead, the guidance provides a framework for determining where vertical evacuation may be needed and how a project can move from an initial idea through planning, design and eventual implementation.
The effort was led by the Oregon Department of Emergency Management and the Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, with support from NOAA’s National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program and FEMA’s Emergency Management Performance Grant program.
For communities facing a tsunami that could arrive within minutes, the new guidance puts another option on the table: when there is not enough time to get inland, going up may save lives.
