Federal audit finds many Coast Guard units in Northwest lack tsunami evacuation plans

A new federal audit finds the U.S. Coast Guard needs to step up planning for a tsunami off the Northwest coast.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office found that half of the most at-risk units don’t have written evacuation plans for their personnel.

A new GAO report says about 3,000 personnel stationed along the outer coasts of Washington and Oregon face a high risk.

“They’re first responders in the community, but in the case of a tsunami, they could become the victims,” said Heather MacLeod, acting director for Homeland Security & Justice Issues at GAO.

The GAO report found that only 19 of 39 Coast Guard units have written tsunami evacuation plans.

The GAO found that the Coast Guard requires evacuation plans but doesn’t ensure anyone follows through, and the existing plans aren’t practiced.

Only four of the plans include maps of where to go.

“We’re actively working on it,” said Lt. Stephen Nolan of the U.S. Coast Guard in Seattle.

He said the agency started work in May 2021 on evacuation plans as the GAO began its audit.

Nolan also assures that if Coast Guard units are hit by a tsunami, others will move in to help.

“What the Coast Guard does, and we do well, is we surge assets from outside that area to be able to respond to natural disasters,” Nolan said.

Although scientists increasingly say there is a tsunami risk in Puget Sound, the audit focused on higher-risk areas on the outer coast where warning times are expected to be shorter.

GAO officials said the Coast Guard has agreed to implement its recommendations to develop evacuation plans, provide guidance, and exercise them in three to four years.

GAO officials say they hope the work is done sooner.

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