Study: More people could survive tsunami if they walk faster

whdh ^ | 4-13-2015 | JEFF BARNARD

[Citizen Zed]

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - About 5,500 more people could survive a major tsunami hitting the Pacific Northwest if they just walk a little faster to higher ground after roads are knocked out, a new study shows.

The report published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences looked at 73 communities along 700 miles of coastline in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. The area is considered most at risk from the next major earthquake and tsunami in the Cascadia Subduction Zone, where two plates of the Earth's crust come together miles off the coast.

Emergency preparedness experts generally agree that after the quake and tsunami, most roads will be too damaged for driving, so people will have to walk to safety.

Geographers estimated 21,562 residents would not make it to safety if they walk slowly - at about 2.5 mph. But if they walk faster, at about 3.5 mph, the death toll drops to 15,970. About 70 percent of them would be in Washington, nearly 30 percent in Oregon and only 4 percent in California.

The study said people working or staying at motels in the tsunami area also will be at risk, but it didn't say how many. It also noted where communities have dependent-care facilities, where residents might have trouble walking.

Lead author Nathan Wood, a geographer for the U.S. Geological Survey in Portland, Oregon, said the findings show tsunami risks are a public health issue as well as an emergency preparedness issue. Promoting healthy lifestyles that help people walk faster would save lives.

Wood added the study provides the most detailed look yet at tsunami risks, and should help in planning evacuation strategies and educating the public.

[Rebelbase]

Discrimination against silly walkers.

[Sherman Logan]

Kick-ass book, dude!

[Sherman Logan]

Emergency preparedness experts generally agree that after the quake and tsunami, most roads will be too damaged for driving, so people will have to walk to safety.

Uhh. After the tsunami, isn't it a little late to escape it?

[Tired of Taxes]

At first I thought your screen name was "Tired of Texas."

LOL. Everyone reads it that way. FReepers used to ask so often why I was tired of Texas that my tagline used to be: "That's Taxes, not Texas."

[trebb]

They needed studies to figure out what the average 5 year old could tell you - scientists and experts are not what they used to be.....

[MrB]

After the asteroid hit the ocean, a huge wave was created. A surfer caught the wave and was going 100+ mph.

Great ride, until he smacked a skyscraper.

[T-Bone Texan]

"...I got trapped in a 22 hour hellride going from Houston to Austin on 290 during the Hurricane Rita evacuation..."

I remember that. My wife almost ran out of gas from idling (and not moving at all). I stayed home to fend off looters, and since we never lost internet or phone, I was able to guide her, eventually, to College Station, which was not even her original destination.

The police were worse than worthless: they threatened to arrest people tying to drive through their small towns. It was a wake up that the government is not there to help us.

If I can make a blanket statement: In times of crisis, the biggest impediment to survival is the apathy, ignorance, and normalcy bias of the people around you.