Oregon Town Trains for the Worst: a Tsunami

By Tom Banse

Published April 17, 2005 at 12:00 AM EDT

Most of Seaside, Ore., -- like congested Broadway St. -- lies at sea level. Safety from a tsunami awaits on the distant hillside.

A sign on a Seaside, Ore., street alerts visitors to the potential threat.

In the small town of Seaside, Ore., residents took time out of their weekend to participate in a tsunami evacuation drill. Producer Tom Banse sends this audio postcard of the disaster-preparation training day.

In California, Los Angeles County is said to be in the lead preparing ways to escape disastrous waves. But California's manager of tsunami preparedness says the large population base along the L.A. coast makes a full-scale evacuation drill like that in Seaside impractical for his region.

Tom Banse

Tom Banse covers business, environment, public policy, human interest and national news across the Northwest. He reports from well known and out–of–the–way places in the region where important, amusing, touching, or outrageous events are unfolding. Tom's stories can be heard during "Morning Edition," "Weekday," and "All Things Considered" on NPR stations in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

See stories by Tom Banse

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