Santa Cruz county records document 12 tsunamis in the last 200 years, most of which were harmless and too small to attract much notice. In 1896, two small waves toppled a sand-bag dike and destroyed festival floats for the Venetian Water Carnival. One of the things that concerns Gordon most about tsunamis is that, unlike forest fires or floods, tsunamis tend to draw curious spectators toward the beach where they are vulnerable to successive waves. She remains strangely confident that even though proper inundation maps do not yet exist, Santa Cruz county is ready for any disaster that may strike. In Washington State they already have public announcements and posted warnings on beaches.
Schools have special drills for evacuation.
Gordon sees similar action in her county's future. We don't ahve quite the same risk level in Santa Cruz, still we need to do something. 2000 Metro Publishing Inc. MetroActive is affiliated with the Boulevards Network .