L.A. lifeguards clear beaches amid tsunami advisory for California coast
L.A. County lifeguards will be clearing beaches around 8 p.m. in response to a tsunami advisory for the California coast issued after a 7.9 temblor in American Samoa.
Officials said that they don't believe coastal regions are likely to suffer much damage but that some beaches could see higher-than-usual tides about 9 p.m. Pacific time.
At King Harbor in Redondo Beach, officials plan to tell boat dwellers in the marina to head for higher ground after 8 p.m. and to make sure nothing is loose on their boats.
Los Angeles County Lifeguard Capt. Terry Harvey said fire officials were notified of the advisory around 3:30 p.m.
He said protocols were initiated including notifying field units to provide extra patrols in affected areas and to report any change in tides, surges or conditions.
He said that lifeguard personnel are on standby to move all county beach vehicles to higher ground if a tsunami arrives. Several bay watch rescue vessels have been deployed and are looking for any changes in conditions at sea.
“This is an advisory which essentially is a heightened state of alert,” Harvey said. “Today might not be a good day to visit the beaches or harbors until the advisory passes tonight.”
“This provides us a great opportunity to exercise our tsunami protocols," he added.
Curt Kaplan of the National Weather Service in Oxnard said the seismic activity could bring waves a foot higher than normal.
"If I were on the [immediate] coast, I would move inland," he said.
He said "light fluctuation in tides and currents" are expected and could last for several hours.
Forecasters will have a conference call in the next hour to reevaluate the warning.
-- Andrew Blankstein
"This provides us a great opportunity to exercise our tsunami protocols," he added.
Seems like a good idea at someone else's expense. There will be 100's killed in this exercise unfortunately.
I know I am being silly but I think the bigger story has been lost in translation.
Posted by: chris | September 29, 2009 at 05:42 PM
As a California resident, this is kind of a scary. Hope for the best for all people who live near the coast!
Posted by: twitrounds | September 29, 2009 at 06:28 PM
Crazy! I was boogie boarding in Huntington Beach, CA with friends today. As we were leaving around 4:30pm lifeguard trucks were blasting something we couldn't hear on their speakers to people in the water. I wonder if they were giving info. about the advisory.
Posted by: Mary | September 29, 2009 at 11:25 PM