Great news! Downgraded from evacuation to advisory! Here's the room :
sa国际传媒� Catherine Lempke (@Cat_Lempke)
Tofino and Ucluelet residents breathed a collective sigh of relief around 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning as the Tsunami Warning that had evacuated them from their homes and into their communitysa国际传媒檚 emergency muster stations was cancelled.
sa国际传媒淭he warning has been downscaled to an advisory. So, thatsa国际传媒檚 good newssa国际传媒� Uclueletsa国际传媒檚 Manager of Environmental and Emergency Services Karla Robison said into her megaphone at the Ucluelet Secondary School around 4:30 a.m. sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檙e safe to go home.sa国际传媒�
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The schoolsa国际传媒檚 gym was packed as hundreds of community members had gathered after receiving alerts to evacuate after a 7.9 magnitude earthquake hit off Alaska around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning. Local police and members of the Ucluelet Volunteer Fire Brigade were knocking on residents homes around 3 a.m. advising them to head to the gym.
After relaying the good news that the warning had been cancelled, Robison explained an advisory means to stay away from docks, shorelines and harbours.
sa国际传媒淎 warning means you need to evacuate, an advisory means you donsa国际传媒檛 go surfing, you donsa国际传媒檛 go hang out on the docks, you donsa国际传媒檛 go boating, you donsa国际传媒檛 go fishing,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淎n advisory is just to stay away from the ocean because there could be some stronger currents and there could be some smaller-type surges, but no large waves.sa国际传媒�
An automated message from Tofinosa国际传媒檚 One Call emergency notification system went out at 4:42 a.m. advising Tofitians the Tsunami Warning had been cancelled.
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Ucluelet local Pieter Timmermans said he and his wife Barbara Schramm were in bed when they heard the tsunami siren.
sa国际传媒淲e thought, sa国际传媒極kay, somethingsa国际传媒檚 going on,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淲e were waiting for a text to come through on the cell phone, but nothing came through so I called the local RCMP and they said, sa国际传媒楾heresa国际传媒檚 a tsunami alertsa国际传媒� and we boogied out.sa国际传媒�
Schramm added that she was surprised a tsunami advisory wasnsa国际传媒檛 immediately posted on the district of Uclueletsa国际传媒檚 website.
sa国际传媒淪till in my bed, I looked for that and there was no notice,sa国际传媒� she said.
Timmermans said he was in the schoolsa国际传媒檚 gym by the time he received an alert on his cell-phone and added he was impressed with how many people heeded the warning and made their way to the gym.
sa国际传媒淚t was really interesting to see everybody get up and at sa国际传媒榚m and obey the warnings,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淚t was a good learning exercise. Even though the texts didnsa国际传媒檛 go out in time, Isa国际传媒檓 sure next time this will help iron out some of the wrinkles.sa国际传媒�
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sa国际传媒淚t was a really good drill,sa国际传媒� said Ukee local Julie Chernis. sa国际传媒淣eighbours came to the door and pounded on our door and then, 10 minutes later, the fire department camesa国际传媒t was neighbour-to-neighbour. They were banging on the door. They knew we were there and they didnsa国际传媒檛 let up until we got up and said sa国际传媒楬ey, wesa国际传媒檙e on the go.sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒�
Juliesa国际传媒檚 husband Ed Chernis suggested hesa国际传媒檇 like to see a quicker alert from the district office next time.
sa国际传媒淲hat gets me is that, if the earthquake was at 1:30 a.m., why did the emergency notification from the district get to me at 3:49 a.m.?sa国际传媒� he asked. sa国际传媒淚 had to rely on a neighbour to come pounding on our door to let us know.sa国际传媒�
Ucluelet Mayor Dianne St. Jacques told the Westerly News inside the gym that the community responded well to the event and that she and her team will discuss the evacuation event and ways to improve in the future.
sa国际传媒淚t was a very good dress rehearsal. As always, there are things to learn when these things happen so wesa国际传媒檒l definitely have a debrief with our gang here, but everybody was very professional and very calm and did what needed to be done. I think wesa国际传媒檙e on a good path with emergency preparedness,sa国际传媒� she said.
sa国际传媒淭he community did awesomesa国际传媒he firemen did a great job getting to all the low lying areas, evacuating everyone and getting them up here to this reception area. People were very patient and very calm. So Isa国际传媒檓 very impressed and, luckily, it turned out to be downgraded to just an advisory so wesa国际传媒檙e very grateful for that.sa国际传媒�
