An Associated Press story is all over the internet today reporting that Japan and the United States will issue tsunami warnings to Indian Ocean countries “as a stopgap measure” until the region develops its own alert system.
The story doesn't say how those warnings will be generated, although there's a strong suggestion the methodology will be high-tech: “Japan and the United States have the world's most advanced warning systems. Japan's network of fiber-optic sensors feeds seismic activity data to a supercomputer, which can issue a warning of a deadly tsunami within minutes of a quake.”
Eight weeks after the tsunami tragedy, it's clear NOAA must revamp its crisis communications planning to involve the major international news organizations in issuing warnings once tsunamis are suspected. Low-tech phone calls -- had they been made to the major media on December 26 -- would have been nearly as fast as instantaneous electronic bulletins, and without question they would have been more effective. This blog's February 12 post proposed an improvement to S.50, The Tsunami Preparedness Act: Engage the major international news organizations in issuing warnings. That didn't happen on December 26.
The Lawsuit
News broke earlier this week that two attorneys intend to file a lawsuit on behalf of the Indian Ocean tsunami victims. The allegation will be that the defendants -- French hotel chain Accor, the Thai government and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii -- failed to warn the victims of the approaching tsunami.
NOAA isn't commenting until the lawsuit is filed, but the action undoubtedly has the agency's attention. One of the plaintiffs' attorneys is Ed Fagan of New York, whose legal history can be found in dozens of on-line stories that describe him as flamboyant, controversial and at times spectacularly effective. Fagan takes on the big causes; he extracted $1.2 billion from Swiss banks on behalf of Holocaust victims, and his other headline-making cases have targeted apartheid, slave labor, nuclear power plant accidents, "mad cow disease" and the like.
This case could turn into a wild ride for NOAA.
Call from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center
As noted in earlier posts, an invitation to visit the Center has been anticipated since the suggestion was first made on February 3 by a NOAA representative. Dr. Charles McCreery, PTWC director, called this week and said a visit should occur in late March after he returns from another trip. We discussed the general premise of this web log; he listened and I listened during what amounted to a good conversation on how the media might be integrated differently in future tsunami warnings. It also seems likely that representatives of the Hawaii congressional delegation will be invited.
Doug Carlson
Honolulu, HI
February 17, 2005
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