Tsunami warning for east coast of Aus.

[silentC]

Perhaps some general sirens for all communities to switch on the radio to listen to updates maybe.

That's what I was thinking. The first I heard of it was when I saw the post here. By then it was too late (or would have been). People usually know that a bushfire is coming because the smoke and ash is a dead give away. A huge wave you wouldn't know about until it knocked open your front door and swept you out the back one.

[silentC]

BTW Stuart Diver, who now lives locally, is trying to set up an SMS service to warn people - but you have to subscribe to it, it's not a general public broadcast.

If there had been a 10 metre wave here this morning, there would have been mayhem. Most of Merimbula's CBD is about 2 metres above sea level and the van park down at the beach is just behind the dunes. It would be gone now. The same story is repeated up and down the coast.

[Bleedin Thumb]

Imagine a 10m wave going through the heads and going into Sydney Harbour.
You wanted water views.....view this!
Its easy to joke about- but on a serious note it could have happened and the response by the government was not up to speed.

[silentC]

Imagine a 10m wave going through the heads and going into Sydney Harbour

It would be an awesome sight though!

[Bleedin Thumb]

It would look like one of those disaster movies from the 70's.
Starring...

Morris Lemma as the clueless politician
Clover Moore as the demanding major
Frank Costa as the bumbling police chief....

with a special guest appearance from Charlton Heston as the gun toten corpse.

[Cliff Rogers]

Emergency services have just stood everyone down, but the hospital management haven't heard yet and are still on standby....

I spend most of the day in a roof in Malanda so it wasn't going to get me....
Wiring, not hiding.
Apparently the range roads were blocked by people rushing to get out of Cairns.

[journeyman Mick]

Apparently there were traffic jams going up the Kuranda range and more than 4oo cars up Lake Morris road. The inlaws couldn't catch the bus down from Kuranda because they couldn't get near it, Kuranda was absolutley packed. Apparently there were cars parked on lawns and all the coffee shops etc ran out of stuff.

Mick

[womble]

Apparently there were traffic jams going up the Kuranda range and more than 4oo cars up Lake Morris road. The inlaws couldn't catch the bus down from Kuranda because they couldn't get near it, Kuranda was absolutley packed. Apparently there were cars parked on lawns and all the coffee shops etc ran out of stuff.

Mick

they would have loved that considering how crappy business has been since the kuranda railway has closed

[Bleedin Thumb]

They've closed the railway? I hope its just whilst repairs are done.

[namtrak]

Evacuation is always going to be a drama for Cairns. Particularly since there are so many transient people there, who may not be so aware of high ground etc.

I heard on the box that the SES people were really peeved off with one of the radio stations creating hysteria (John McKenzie's station I assume) and as always were happy with the balanced reporting of the local ABC.

As for us, we were worried. I got the kids and dog and put them on top of the car for safe keeping, and made sure the fridge was full of coldies. Nothing happened though.

36.03S 146.56E

[Bleedin Thumb]

I got the kids and dog and put them on top of the car for safe keeping, and made sure the fridge was full of coldies.

You obviously have a well thought out disaster plan. Something that I would recommend to everyone.

People should never underestimate the amount of beer that may be required in these circumstance.



PS Just heard that they will be conducting Tsunami awareness classes at one of the local pubs in Albury this Friday night. See everyone there

[journeyman Mick]

The railway has been closed for some time for repairs after a landslide and is not expected to reopen for two months at least.

There definitely needs to be a better management plan for a Tsunami threat. Apparently schools and childcare centres were contacting parents to pick up their kids. Some of the nurses had to leave the hospital about half an hour before the wave was meant to hit. Not good if you have emergency services and hospital personnel being pulled away from their jobs. Better that people are at work, home or school rather than driving around if a wave hits. I can only imagine the traffic chaos as all these parents left work and picked their kids up. I believe that they need to have an evacution plan in place, especially for schools. If the evacuation order is given they take the kids in buses without calling the parents and causing more of a traffic snarl. If it's decided that there will be no evacuation and they will ride it out then obviously the schools need to keep the kids where they are. School buildings are built to a higher structural standard than most houses and very few houses in Cairns are on high ground anyway.

One of the many reasons I'm glad I live up the hill!

Mick

[HappyHammer]

A couple of guys up here went fishing last night and noticed the tide in the river was about two feet higher than usual. No big waves but our tides are usually quite consistent...

HH.

[TassieKiwi]

Indeed. I lived at the top end of Digger St, which happens to be one of the highest points at a huge 2.3m above high tide. Trouble is, if you look at the contour maps every route away from Cairns dips to damn near sea level. My plan was to p.o. to the tablelands loooong before the cat. 5 arrived. No-one was worried about tsunamis in 1998.

[namtrak]

......Just heard that they will be conducting Tsunami awareness classes at one of the local pubs in Albury this Friday night.......

Yes the place will be awash with concerned citizens.

Mick your right. If the punters knew that their kids were taken care of, then there would be a lot less panic on the roads. Deal with the kids first and everything else will flow from there. So to speak.