Webinar: What’s that Sound? Public and Official Perceptions of the January 2018 Tsunami Warning and Evacuation in the Alberni Valley

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MEOPAR’s Coast and Ocean Risk Communication Community of Practice (CORC CoP) is excited to host this free webinar, presented by Ryan Reynolds and Alexa Tanner from the University of British Columbia on November 20, 2018 from 10am to 11am Pacific time (Vancouver).

Imagine being woken up at 3AM by a loud siren and verbal warning to evacuate your home because a tsunami is expected to arrive soon. That was the situation the people of Port Alberni faced in the early hours of January 23rd of this year. It had been over fifty years since the Alberni Valley had been devastated by a tsunami following an earthquake in Alaska, and over 10 years since the last warning was issued.

Thankfully, this time there was no tsunami, but for many the events of that morning remain vivid. In this webinar we will talk about the responses we received from over 450 residents and 11 local officials about their experiences, how the event has changed their perceptions of tsunami risk, and what lessons can be learned from the event from a risk communication stand-point.

Check out the Preliminary Report (https://bit.ly/2RgmSej). This research was funded by ICLR (Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction).