As reported yesterday by the Star-Bulletin and Honolulu Advertiser, a group called Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is crying foul on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) decision to not co-locate its Pacific Tsunami Warning Center to "high ground" at Diamond Head, and instead set it up on Ford Island.
NOAA is apparently consolidating several of its offices there, and the Tsunami Warning Center is just one of them. But the plan to put a Tsunami Warning Center on a relatively isolated, flat little island has certainly raised eyebrows.
NOAA says the Tsunami Warning Center would be on the third floor of its new complex, and notes the state Civil Defense office doesn't list Ford Island as an "inundation zone." The PEER folks counter that the island was never evaluated for tsunami risk because of the military's trademark reluctance to share facility information, and that being on the third floor only means the new center would stay dry, not remain accessible or functional. Even the folks who work at the Tsunami Warning Center today have problems with the plan. The Diamond Head location would separate it from the NOAA mother ship, but it would also foster better interagency communication since other emergency offices are located there.
Of course, the Tsunami Warning Center is currently in an inundation zone in Ewa Beach. A spot where they'd already recently invested some funds in refurbishing...
Anyway, this odd story has gotten some traction in the national press.
NOAA is apparently consolidating several of its offices there, and the Tsunami Warning Center is just one of them. But the plan to put a Tsunami Warning Center on a relatively isolated, flat little island has certainly raised eyebrows.
NOAA says the Tsunami Warning Center would be on the third floor of its new complex, and notes the state Civil Defense office doesn't list Ford Island as an "inundation zone." The PEER folks counter that the island was never evaluated for tsunami risk because of the military's trademark reluctance to share facility information, and that being on the third floor only means the new center would stay dry, not remain accessible or functional. Even the folks who work at the Tsunami Warning Center today have problems with the plan. The Diamond Head location would separate it from the NOAA mother ship, but it would also foster better interagency communication since other emergency offices are located there.
Of course, the Tsunami Warning Center is currently in an inundation zone in Ewa Beach. A spot where they'd already recently invested some funds in refurbishing...
Anyway, this odd story has gotten some traction in the national press.
Comment