The internships provide $7,000 for each student to work on earthquake and tsunami preparedness issues. Dawn Albrecht (Masters Environment & Community) will work to promote wider ShakeOut participation in the RCTWG area, and also with vulnerable populations (elderly, disabled etc.) to create disaster plans and promote resilience. Claudia Velasco (BS, Geology) will develop Spanish language versions of RCTWG material and help develop a Spanish outreach program. Claudia grew up in Fortuna in a bilingual home and has strong connections to the local Hispanic community. She is also completing a senior thesis project on the impacts of the 1964 tsunami in Crescent City.
The Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group was formed in 1996, and its mission is to mitigate the hazards of earthquakes and tsunamis in Humboldt, Mendocino and Del Norte counties. The interagency group is made up of representatives from local, state and federal agencies, as well as tribes, businesses, land managers and relief and service groups.
Together with Humboldt State University, the group developed tsunami hazard maps for much of the North Coast. From those maps, the group began to plan the placement of the blue and white tsunami hazard signs that dot now the community. As of January 2009, more than 400 signs have been installed, guiding citizens to safety and higher ground.
The group provides access to many other earthquake and tsunami-related resources as well. At the Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group website, http://www.humboldt.edu/rctwg/, people can find interactive tsunami evacuation maps, disaster preparedness checklists and videos of HSU professor of Geology, Lori Dengler, discussing the importance and proper practice of “Drop, Cover and Hold On.”
The group’s other projects include evacuation planning, drills and response planning and assistance in the TsunamiReady Program, a National Weather Service tsunami hazard mitigation program.