WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 00:00:08.590 --> 00:00:12.000 Imagine all of this underwater. 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:15.580 In a major tsunami, it could happen. 00:00:15.580 --> 00:00:20.820 In this part of Washington State, it’s happened before, hundreds of years ago. 00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:24.590 Sometime in the future, it will likely happen again. 00:00:24.590 --> 00:00:27.050 But we can be ready. 00:00:27.050 --> 00:00:33.529 If a tsunami strikes, this school will provide a place for people to ride it out above the waves. 00:00:33.529 --> 00:00:40.700 We’re in Westport, Washington, and right behind me is the very first tsunami vertical 00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:43.000 evacuation center in the United States. 00:00:43.100 --> 00:00:48.700 "At this time we would like to begin our earthquake drill... 00:00:48.700 --> 00:00:53.400 ...All students should drop and cover at this time." 00:00:53.500 --> 00:00:57.500 "We will now begin the tsunami evacuation... 00:00:57.500 --> 00:00:59.100 ...This is an emergency... 00:00:59.100 --> 00:01:04.300 ...Please walk to the nearest exit, go to the stairs tower, and proceed up the stairs." 00:01:04.300 --> 00:01:10.649 Tsunamis are a potential hazard for low laying coastal areas, that’s why many coastal communities 00:01:10.649 --> 00:01:17.229 have plans in place to get people to safety, high ground or inland, where they can be beyond 00:01:17.229 --> 00:01:19.590 the reach of a tsunami. 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:25.729 Often there are signs showing where to go, and where to gather. 00:01:25.729 --> 00:01:31.970 Most tsunamis are caused by underwater earthquakes along subduction zones, where two of earth’s 00:01:31.970 --> 00:01:35.690 plates collide and one is forced under the other. 00:01:35.690 --> 00:01:41.200 Westport and other Pacific Northwest coastal communities are especially at risk, because 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:44.500 one of these zones lays just offshore. 00:01:44.500 --> 00:01:48.240 It’s called the Cascadia subduction zone. 00:01:48.240 --> 00:01:57.640 An earthquake here caused a tsunami in 1700 that flooded shores as far away as Japan. 00:01:57.640 --> 00:02:04.900 Experts say, it’s just a matter of time before it happens again. 00:02:04.900 --> 00:02:11.569 Since the subduction zone is so close, a tsunami like the one in 1700 could strike before some 00:02:11.569 --> 00:02:16.890 people in some low laying areas could get to high ground or inland, and Westport doesn’t 00:02:16.890 --> 00:02:20.769 have a lot of high ground or easy routes inland. 00:02:20.769 --> 00:02:26.989 If we get an earthquake or tsunami, were going to get a lot of water in the area really quickly, 00:02:26.989 --> 00:02:29.159 and we needed a place to go. 00:02:29.159 --> 00:02:36.239 So our community built this brand new school and above our gym and cafeteria, we have a 00:02:36.239 --> 00:02:40.150 roof, and so the idea is that we’ll get all of our students up, and anybody from the 00:02:40.150 --> 00:02:44.629 community that needs to get up, they can get up there as well. 00:02:44.629 --> 00:02:51.049 Ocosta Elementary School might seem like a normal school, but look more closely. 00:02:51.049 --> 00:02:56.409 It’s engineered to withstand monster waves. 00:02:56.409 --> 00:03:01.609 Tsunami vertical evacuation shelters must be able to resist the powerful forces that 00:03:01.609 --> 00:03:03.840 a tsunami brings. 00:03:03.840 --> 00:03:12.470 Hydrodynamic, buoyant, hydro-static, and debris impact forces and strong currents. 00:03:12.470 --> 00:03:18.599 They’re also designed to help people get to safety, quickly. 00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:23.480 There are four big staircases on each corner of the building and each one of those staircases 00:03:23.480 --> 00:03:33.249 is 8 feet wide and we can get the whole school evacuated in about four and a half minutes. 00:03:33.249 --> 00:03:39.519 On the roof of the building there is water and food and buckets and shelters and tarps 00:03:39.519 --> 00:03:44.349 and blankets and different things so that we can be up there for, two, three, maybe 00:03:44.349 --> 00:03:48.120 four days, while we wait for rescue. 00:03:48.120 --> 00:03:55.080 You can go to the top and you know you’ll be safe. 00:03:55.080 --> 00:04:01.410 It feels so nice to have a special building because you feel protected. 00:04:01.410 --> 00:04:06.609 This community decided that a tsunami evacuation center was important because they didn’t 00:04:06.609 --> 00:04:11.549 have anywhere to go and they decided to use their money to build the building. 00:04:11.549 --> 00:04:18.380 The additional cost is anywhere between 10-20% of the actual building cost itself, and that’s 00:04:18.380 --> 00:04:20.880 really a sound investment for a lot of protection. 00:04:20.880 --> 00:04:26.300 You may be there a while but you’re safe and you’re secure, 00:04:26.300 --> 00:04:30.500 and that’s the most important thing.