Berkeley seeks feedback on tsunami warning and evacuation order
BERKELEY, Calif. - Many are still talking about Thursday's large earthquake in Northern California and subsequent tsunami warning in the Bay Area. Now the city of Berkeley wants feedback on its evacuation order.
Most people got the alert on their phones, but some heard about it on social media or the news. Whatever way you got the warning - Berkeley wants to know.
On Thursday when the tsunami warning was issued for the California Coast, it said there would be a "warning level" tsunami of at least 3 feet to hit the shores of San Francisco by 12:10 p.m.
Leaders in the city of Berkeley say that implied Berkeley's shores would be hit shortly after. In a statement online, the city of Berkeley said preexisting state guidance indicated that such a tsunami could reach into West Berkeley streets. That is why an evacuation order was put out for areas west of Seventh Street.
Berkeley resident Edrei Ugalde said he wasn't worried, but his friends who live in the evacuation area were.
"I was really like, ‘Eh, it’s whatever. Nothing really bad’s going to happen.’ All of my friends who are in this area and who have never seen or heard of a tsunami, they’re like, ‘A tsunami, what is it?’ and they were like, ‘We have to evacuate.’ I was like, ‘You really don’t, but sure,’" said Ugalde. "They were stuck for hours apparently in traffic, or they were stuck up in the hills, and they wouldn’t come down. They were afraid, which is totally understandable."
Emergency responders say tsunami warning response went 'according to plan'
Thursday's tsunami warnings stretched from Oregon down to the Monterey Coast. According to the National Weather Service, a broad warning was necessary.
In a new survey released online, Berkeley is asking residents if they evacuated, and why or why not. They hope the answers can improve the emergency alert system for a disaster in the future.
"The best thing you can do is really listen and do what the warning says, make it easier for first responders," said Nicholas Moore, who has a boat at the Berkeley Marina.
He was in San Francisco at the time of the tsunami warning and got to higher ground.
"These water masses have just an incredible amount of force and take out anything in its path," said Moore.
With a history of meteorology and oceanography in the Navy, Moore knows just how severe events like this can be.
"It's not really a matter of that it's going to happen every time, but when it happens, it's really, really devastating," he said.
On the other hand, an employee at the Berkeley Marina Sport Center said they didn't plan to evacuate until police came and forced them to.
Whatever you decide, city leaders want to hear about your experience. You can fill out the survey at this link.