Oregon Public Broadcasting

Policy makers and engineers are meeting in Portland and Cannon Beach this week to discuss the need for tsunami evacuation buildings. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.

A tsunami evacuation building is a building that’s been put on stilts - so that when a tsunami hits, people can stay above the water.

They’ve been built in Japan, but there are none along the U.S. coastline.

Althea Turner of Oregon Emergency Management says FEMA is realizing that the traditional message of “go inland and uphill,” isn’t enough in towns like Cannon Beach and Seaside.

Althea Turner: “We have 10 maybe 15 minutes in the case of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and tsunami and that’s just not long enough for individuals to get from the water front to high ground.

Cannon Beach is considering turning its city hall into a tsunami evacuation building, but deep foundations and concrete pillars make it much more expensive.