JBPHH Hosts 5th Annual Tsunami Awareness ‘One-Mile Walk to Safety’

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabrielle Joyner | 170403-N-WC566-003 PEARL HARBOR (April 3, 2017) Service members and families participate in the 5th annual Tsunami Awareness One-Mile “Walk to Safety” hosted by Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Department of Emergency Management, April 3. The walk is held in conjunction with the monthly statewide tsunami warning test, and is designed to raise awareness on tsunami safety, preparation, as well as to demonstrate to service members and their families that they can walk to a safe tsunami evacuation area in 30 minutes or less. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Gabrielle Joyner/Released)  

JBPHH, HI, UNITED STATES

04.03.2017

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Gabrielle Joyner 

Navy Public Affairs Support Element Detachment Hawaii

The Joint Base Emergency Management Office hosted the 5th annual Tsunami Awareness One-Mile Walk to Safety in tandem with the monthly tsunami siren test, on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH), April 3.
The event is held every year at the start of April, Tsunami Awareness Month in Hawaii, to raise awareness about the potential tsunami threat that Hawaii faces and to show the public that safety can be a less than a 30 minute walk away.
“We host the tsunami walk every year to raise awareness about how to prepare and be safe in the event of a major natural disaster such as a tsunami,” said Airman 1st Class Tyler Fleetwood. “The walk is significant because we are walking from the shore of the ocean, to well beyond the marked safe zones on base. We hope that it raises awareness to the community about how quickly they can get to higher elevation.”
The “walk to safety” is hosted by the JBPHH Office of Emergency Management, in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the American Red Cross.
“NOAA and the Red Cross are always extremely helpful when it comes to events we host that raises safety awareness in the community,” said Fleetwood. “For this event, they helped us get the word out to more people, as well as, setting up their own booth the day of the event.”
The participants gathered at Aloha Aina Park, started the short walk down Signer Boulevard to the softball fields near the Hickam Fitness Center when sirens began to sound off, at 11:30 a.m.
“We host the event with the monthly siren tests because we hope that people will be more prone to recognizing the sirens and know how to respond to them, instead of having to find out what they mean and wasting vital time they could be using to get to safety,” said Fleetwood.
Michelle Pennington, whose husband is stationed on JBPHH, and her daughter Grace were among the several service members, contractors, and family members participating the event. Being new to the base, Penning ton said after learning they live in a tsunami evacuation zone.
“We are new to the island and saw the sign for the Tsunami Awareness Walk,” said Michelle Pennington. “We wanted to know more about tsunami safety and preparation after learning that we live in a tsunami evacuation zone.”
The tsunami “walk to safety” event marked the 71st anniversary of the Aleutian tsunami. On the morning of April 1, 1946, an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.4 occurred in Aleutian trench area, about 90 miles south of Unimak Island.
The earthquake produced a large Pacific-wide tectonic tsunami, which reached Hawaii five hours later with waves as high as 55 feet crashed across the entire island chain. The tsunami claimed the lives of 159 people in Hawaii.
Fleetwood stressed the importance of always taking a proactive approach to tsunami preparation, to minimize the threat.
“Tsunamis are a major threat to the island of Hawaii and can happen with very little warning,” said Fleetwood. “Having a plan and knowing what you’re going to do beforehand increases the likelihood of keeping you and your family safe, sevenfold. Being ready takes one less thing off of your mind in a crisis.
For more information about the JBPHH “walk to safety,” call the JBPHH EM office at 448-2744. For more information on preparing for disasters, visit FEMA’s Ready.GOV website, the American Red Cross website, and Navy and Air Force “Ready” websites at www.ready.navy.mil and www.beready.af.mil/disasters&emergencies/

• Date Taken: 04.03.2017
• Date Posted: 04.05.2017 21:30
• Story ID: 229321
• Location: JBPHH, HI, US