TSUNAMI WARNINGS FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII – FIND FLOOD ZONES

Do I need flood insurance? To find the flood zone for any island, go to the Hawaii Flood Hazard Assessment Tool. It’s is easiest to zoom in, then use the “pan” tool to drag the flood zone map to your area. For Oahu, go to the City and County of Honolulu Planning and Permitting Department. Here you have the ability to interactively look up information on digitally processed maps such as zoning, property boundaries, tax assessment, ownership records, sewer hookups, demographics, flood zones, and more. Use the HoLIS Interactive GIS Web Map and Data Services.

• Flood Preparedness
• Tsunamis & Hurricanes

NWS PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER EWA BEACH HI
624 AM HST SAT FEB 27 2010

TO – CIVIL DEFENSE IN THE STATE OF HAWAII

SUBJECT – TSUNAMI WARNING SUPPLEMENT

A TSUNAMI WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME – 0834 PM HST 26 FEB 2010
COORDINATES – 36.1 SOUTH   72.6 WEST
LOCATION    – NEAR COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE
MAGNITUDE   – 8.8  MOMENT
A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED THAT COULD CAUSE DAMAGE ALONG  COASTLINES OF ALL ISLANDS IN THE STATE OF HAWAII. URGENT ACTION  SHOULD BE TAKEN TO PROTECT LIVES AND PROPERTY.

A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF LONG OCEAN WAVES. EACH INDIVIDUAL WAVE  CREST CAN LAST 5 TO 15 MINUTES OR MORE AND EXTENSIVELY FLOOD  COASTAL AREAS. THE DANGER CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL WAVE AS SUBSEQUENT WAVES ARRIVE. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST.  TSUNAMI WAVES EFFICIENTLY WRAP AROUND ISLANDS. ALL SHORES ARE AT  RISK NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION THEY FACE. THE TROUGH OF A TSUNAMI WAVE MAY TEMPORARILY EXPOSE THE SEAFLOOR BUT THE AREA WILL  QUICKLY FLOOD AGAIN. EXTREMELY STRONG AND UNUSUAL NEARSHORE  CURRENTS CAN ACCOMPANY A TSUNAMI. DEBRIS PICKED UP AND CARRIED
BY A TSUNAMI AMPLIFIES ITS DESTRUCTIVE POWER. SIMULTANEOUS HIGH TIDES OR HIGH SURF CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE TSUNAMI HAZARD.

THE ESTIMATED ARRIVAL TIME IN HAWAII OF THE FIRST TSUNAMI WAVE IS

1119 AM HST SAT 27 FEB 2010

FORECAST WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AND AMPLITUDES CREST TO TROUGH.

HILO       1105AM HST   2.5 METERS
HONOLULU   1137AM HST   0.5 METERS
KAHULUI    1126AM HST   2.2 METERS
NAWILIWILI 1142AM HST   0.9 METERS
HALEIWA                 0.5 METERS
KAWAIHAE                0.6 METERS

THESE ARE ONLY ESTIMATES…ACTUAL VALUES MAY DIFFER.

MESSAGES WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.