An evacuation in Hawaii could cost as much as $68 million in lost productivity, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Since the 1960's, Dr. Kong said, there have been two warnings of tsunamis in Hawaii that ended in evacuations, and both were false alarms..."
At last here is rational discussion about the realities of tsunami prediction.
This is also an article which lays no blame on the affected countries, nor on the United States for those countries' lack of foresight, premonition or awareness of the unexpected catastrophe which would move them from the low risk to the high risk category for destructive tsunamis.
We sent out a bulletin to all of the affected area's governments.
http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2004/s2357.htm
Dec. 26, 2004 — NOAA scientists acted quickly when a warning was issued about the powerful undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean that triggered a devastating tsunami. Within minutes following an alarm signaling the strong earthquake, the NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued an information bulletin to nations in the Pacific at 8:14 p.m. EST Saturday, indicating that a magnitude 8.0 earthquake (later upgraded to magnitude 9.0) had occurred off the west coast of Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. Because the earthquake, reported to be one of the strongest in the world in the past 40 years, occurred in the Indian Ocean, not the Pacific, there was no threat of a tsunami to Hawaii, the West Coast of North America or to other coasts in the Pacific Basin—the U.S. area of responsibility. (Click NOAA image for larger view of Indonesia tsunami epicenter map. Click here for high resolution version, which is a large file. Please credit “NOAA.”)
If NOAA had computer models of this Tsunomi and sent out information bulletins about it...why was the death toll so high? Any thoughts?
NOAA clips of Tsunomi hours before it happened that was sent out in bulletins can be seen here:
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/tsunami/time
According to another thread, when the ocean receads from the beach, you have ten minutes to reach high ground. If everyone know what a ten year old british girl knew, three-fourths of the victims could be alive today, simply by running.
If you combine that knowledge with an earthquake warning, you could have many people watching for the signs, and the more cautious already withdrawn from the beach.
Of course every problem needs a ton of money to solve~!
I remember the original earthquake thread HERE ON FR hours before the tsunami hit- warning would have been as simple as making a bunch of phone calls immediately. (free too)
But when a disaster this big happens once a century people just dont think about it- and you can put a warning system in place for any of an infinite number of possible problems.