» Evacuation
        » Micronesia
                » The Basic Plan
                        » Category 1
                        » Category 2
                        » Category 3
                » Transportation
                » Safety Locations
        » Peru
                » Current Plan
                » Evacuees
                » Transportation
                » Safety Locations
        » Evacuation Guidelines
        » Stages of Evacuation

Micronesia


»The Basic Plan


   Because Micronesia is made up of 607 islands, we deemed it unfeasible to focus on a specific evacuation plan for each and every one of the populated islands. Therefore, we have divided the populated islands into 3 categories, labeled Category I, Category II, and Category III.
  • Category I consists of the five most populated islands that account for about 75% of the population of Micronesia. These islands have at least one major city and most have an airport that could be used for airlifting in supplies from international relief.
  • Category II islands have a smaller but still significant population (above 1000 people) and have a maximum elevation that is above the height of a tsunami wave, meaning that people on the island would have somewhere to evacuate to on the island.
  • Category III islands have very small populations, usually under 1000 people, a small area, usually less than 1 kilometer squared, and most important, their highest elevation is not high enough to escape the height of a tsunami, meaning people will have to evacuate off of the island.
   We based initial population estimates off of information from the UN System – Wide Earth Watch Website1 to get a list of the most populated islands and then updated population estimates from there.

»»Category I Islands


  The following table shows the five most populated islands, which have been placed into Category I, on the basis of criteria listed above. Each island has then been examined more closely to get an estimate of how many people from each island will be evacuated to higher locations on their respective islands. For these islands, we recommend that people evacuate about 2 miles inward or at least 15 meters above sea level.



ihttp://lumahai.soest.hawaii.edu/Enso/map/usapi/pohnpei.html
iihttp://www.tageo.com/index-e-fm-cities-FM.htm
iiihttp://www.prel.org/
iiiihttp://islands.unep.ch/ILV.htm


Pohnpei (may also be referred to as Ponape)



Taken from:http://www.intangible.org/Features/micronesia/text/maps.html November 20, 2005
Basic Safety Evaluation
  Pohnpei Island was formed, similar to many other islands in the FSM, from a volcano. Therefore, its land is relatively high in elevation, with its highest altitude at 791 meters. There are large barrier reefs around the island and extensive mangrove forest development along the shoreline2. Because of these characteristics, first of all, people are probably already located at high elevations where the tsunami will not reach, and second of all, there will be a lot of warning time because the barrier reefs and mangrove forest will act as buffers for the island, delaying the waves and dissipating some of the energy in the tsunami3.
Evacuee Estimate   The major cities on this island are Palikir, with a population of 10,100 4 and Kolonia, with a population of 4,540. 5 Palikir is at an elevation of 682 feet and Kolonia is at an elevation of 9 feet6, so excluding the population of Palikir, we estimated that there were 25,000 people living in danger areas along the coast. We cannot assume that anyone else besides the population of Palikir lives far enough away from the coast because the only accurate data available for specific populations on Pohnpei is for large cities. Kolonia’s elevation proves that there is a significant number of people living on the coastline where a potential tsunami might wreak havoc. We are taking the maximum run-up of the tsunami to be about 15 meters, or around 45 feet, which will significantly impact most people living on the island. Therefore, the upper evacuation estimate for Pohnpei is 25,000 people.
Weno (also Moen)



Taken from:http://www.islands.com/truk/ November 20, 2005
Basic Safety Evaluation
  Weno, 18.8 square kilometers in area, has a maximum altitude of 370 meters. There are many mangrove forests along the coastline and extensive barrier reef systems, around both Weno and the state of Chuuk (see diagram).1 The smaller islands present in the Chuuk island group will also act as buffers between the force of the tsunami and the main island. Again, because of these factors, we are likely to have at least an hour from the warning system.
Evacuee Estimate
  Weno is such a small island that it is difficult to find information for locations of population centers. Therefore, we decided to estimate that the entire population of Weno will need to be evacuated. This is probably not an unreasonable estimate because Weno’s population increased drastically after its airport was built, and the airport is located on a filled-in reef, which is probably not much higher than sea level. In that case, the number of people needing to be evacuated inland 2 miles is 23,400, the total population of the island.
Yap



Taken from: http://www.intangible.org/Features/micronesia/text/maps.html November 20, 2005

Basic Safety Evaluation
  Yap the island is actually nearly inseparable from the other islands Gagil Tamil, Map (also Maap), and Rumung, as apparent from the map. This evacuation estimate will cover all four islands, which will collectively be referred to as Yap. Yap has many barrier reefs surrounding the island but the island itself is located on the farthest edge of the FSM island group, so there are few small islands to buffer and dissipate the tsunami force. Yap is likely to be hit the hardest in the event of a tsunami. In fact, a 6.6 magnitude earthquake occurred near Ulithi, another island in the Yap island group, on January 16, 2005.7 Also, a 1999 earthquake near Taiwan of magnitude 7.6 generated tsunami warnings for Yap specifically, among other countries8. Therefore, not only the likelihood of a tsunami higher in Yap than any other state in the FSM, warning time may be low because of a lack of a smaller island buffer.
Evacuee Estimate
  The main city in Yap is Colonia (different from Kolonia in Pohnpei), which is a port city. While its average elevation is 56 feet9 and thus above the run-up estimate of 45 feet, most people are likely to live closer to the coast than the average elevation suggests. Also, large tsunamis do have run-ups greater than 45 feet, so Colonia is likely not safe from tsunami damage. Colonia is estimated to have a population of 450010 so considering the overall population of 8037, we can consider the entire population of the island to be in danger of a tsunami and therefore the total population of 8037 must be evacuated at least 2 miles inland to reach a proper elevation and the safety zone of the island.
Kosrae



Taken from: http://www.intangible.org/Features/micronesia/text/maps.html November 20, 2005

Basic Safety Evaluation
  Kosrae, the island group, is unique among the four island groups of FSM in that it consists of one large island with no small islands at all. While it does have barrier reefs and mangrove forests, the lack of island buffers will probably cause Kosrae a great deal of harm during a tsunami. It is also the rightmost island of FSM, and a tsunami could gather a lot of speed crossing the ocean and then hit Kosrae with a lot of force.
Evacuee Estimate



Taken from:http://www.visit-fsm.org/kosrae/ November 20, 2005

  Apparent from the map above, the centers of population are close to the edge on an island that is 110 square kilometers. Lelu Village, which has an elevation very close to sea level11, has an estimated population of 310010, although this estimate is a little questionable because the village is located on a sub-island that isn’t very big. At any rate, out of the estimated population of 7833, most people are likely to live near the coast because of the location of the airport and the tourist center of Lelu Village. Therefore, we estimate the number of people needing to be evacuated at 7000. The reason why the estimate is less than the population of the island is because the island has a fairly large area, so some people must be living inland in a tsunami safety zone.
Tol



Taken from: http://www.visit-fsm.org/chuuk/img/chuuk_map.gif November 20, 2005

(The Illinois State Library claims to have a very detailed map of Tol, but this one shows the necessary information. For a more detailed map, see this link: http://www.reisenett.no/map_collection/australia/Truk_Tol_soil_1981.jpg )

Basic Safety Evaluation
  Because it is in the same island group Chuuk as Weno, the safety evaluation is pretty similar. There are excellent barrier reefs present all around Tol, and thick mangrove forest development1. We are likely to have a lot of warning time because in addition to the barrier reefs and mangrove forests, Tol is located in the center of FSM and so is surrounded by many island buffers within the FSM and by island groups nearby, like Papua New Guinea and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Evacuee Estimate
  Because the heights are very high towards the middle of the island and the lagoons are a source of tourist activity, many people probably live close to the coast of this small island, which is only 34 square kilometers in size1, less than 5 miles across. Basically everyone on this island would need to evacuate as far inland as possible -a total estimate of 6781 people.
  More specific safety sites for these five islands will be mapped out by local authorities who are familiar with the terrain and provided with data from risk assessment algorithms run by the United Nations. It is unrealistic to attempt to pinpoint exact locations of safety locations when the maps available do not provide an accurate sense of steepness of terrain, available clearings, and nearness to population density centers.

»»Category II Islands


  The Category II islands have substantial populations of generally at least a thousand people (Fanapanges being the sole exception) and with elevations over 30 meters, giving people on the island locations to evacuate to. These islands were not included in the more specific analysis given to the five most populated islands because there is not much information about them available to us. These islands are listed below:


*All population data has been taken from the UN Earthwatch website (:http://islands.unep.ch/ILV.htm#1364), which contains population estimates from 1980. This is the most recent data available for these islands.

»»Category III Islands


  The Category III islands do not have a high enough elevation that allows for evacuation sites on the island. These islands usually have a population of around 200-300 people, although a few larger and smaller populations are present on some of the islands. There are 31 of these islands (not listed), most of them in the Chuuk island group. There are a few evacuation plans that have been designed with these small populations in mind:
  1. Island basement: This first plan was to build a large underground evacuation center out of concrete and other waterproof materials, large enough to house the entire population of the island. However, this is not very likely to succeed because the structure of a basement is not designed for such waterlogged soil that would be present on an island. Also, in terms of rescue, such a structure could be hazardous, i.e. likely to collapse on itself or difficult to open after a tsunami has changed the landscape. Also, if there is a single leak, this plan can become an automatic deathtrap. Providing oxygen for larger populations is also an issue.
  2. Out to sea: This plan is to send the population out in their fishing vessels towards the direction of the tsunami. With adequate information, if this is achieved, the people will be in an area of the ocean where the tsunami’s change in amplitude is minimal and therefore unable to cause any damage. While their homes will still be destroyed, this is inevitable on an island that is likely to disappear after a tsunami anyway, and the population will be saved because they are far enough away from the island that the ocean bathymetry only allows for a small change in wave height due to the tsunami. This plan is probably the most realistic plan for small islands that are not close enough to larger islands to evacuate to in an emergency situation. The people are all likely to have enough fishing vessels since they live near the ocean, and with a proper warning provided through the tone-alert radios and a local authority to supervise the evacuation, this plan is probably the most feasible one.
  3. Evacuation to larger islands: Some of these small islands are close enough to larger islands that they can be reached during an emergency situation, although this will depend on the time available between the warning and the tsunami. This should probably be estimated by the U.N. using the risk assessment algorithms. However, these small islands need enough time to evacuate off their island, land on the larger island and still reach the safety locations, which will be a long walk inland. Unless the small island is very close to a large island, plan 2 is probably still the best plan.

»Transportation


Limitations
  Not a lot of information is available about transportation systems present on the islands. Therefore, it was not feasible to map out specific transportation routes to each of the evacuation locations. Therefore, we have provided a general outline of how people should evacuate when the tsunami warning is activated. Note that Category III islands have not been discussed because evacuation for these small islands has been fully explained under the Evacuees heading.
General Population
  Because the islands of Micronesia are not very large to begin with, we estimated that most people are within walking distance of “safe” elevations (on Category I and II islands). The people only have to walk about 2 miles inland to be safe from a tsunami, and the average person can do that in about 20 minutes at a leisurely pace.12 Most people in rural areas do not own motor vehicles, especially on Category II islands, so driving inland would not be an option for many people. It is also general information that most roads are not paved and therefore not capable of handling high traffic loads that would occur during tsunami evacuation. Therefore, once the warning goes off, people who are physically capable of walking inland for about 20 minutes will meet in central meeting places within each village or section of a city, where trained volunteers will be available to lead the group to the evacuation location.
Special Cases
   For special cases (elderly and disabled people), cars will be permitted, though we will strongly encourage that people with cars not use them unless assisting others who would otherwise be unable to evacuate. Vehicles will be in place for evacuation at hospitals, churches, and nursing homes (although there aren’t very many nursing homes or hospitals on the islands) where it is more likely to find people who are going to need assistance during the evacuation. Trained volunteers from the staff of the hospitals, nursing homes, and churches will be driving the vehicles. Psychologically, because the staff has an emotional connection to the patients, it is more likely that they would not abandon them compared to having assigned drivers from outside the hospitals or nursing homes.

»Safety Locations


Basic Location
  The initial plan was to find large buildings to use as evacuation sites that are capable of holding around 500 people each. However, during our research we discovered that most buildings in general are close to the coast because that is where people live. It is also difficult to build buildings along the slope of the mountain. Therefore, clearings will be marked around the island, at least 2 miles inland and 15 meters above sea level, each capable of holding around 500 people. These sites will be made known to the people who will utilize the site in case of an emergency. The familiarity of the village with their evacuation site will lessen the psychological trauma of the tsunami. The local officials from the village or town that will use the clearing will maintain the clearings monthly, the cost of which has been marked in the budget. Each evacuation clearing will be a permanent fully equipped workstation with an Evacuation Site Coordinator. Furthermore, the site will be accessible by heavy trucks from an all-weather road for loading of camp supplies. This is very important because Micronesia is subjected to tropical rainfalls year-round13. Furthermore, the site should have two ventilated improved pit latrines built according to the book: The Design of Ventilated Improved Pit Latrine written by the United Nations development program14. These latrines will guarantee sanitary disposal of human waste.
Evacuation Site Specifics    Each evacuation site will be similar to a campsite. There will be a small cabin constructed in a forest clearing, natural, if possible. Inside the cabin there will be a computer set up (again, taken into account in our budget estimate) so that people can login when they reach the evacuation site. We have checked to make sure that there are people with computer use skills, and especially from the large cities, many people are capable of using new technology15. There will also be supplies in this cabin such as food, water, materials to put up shelters, medical supplies, blankets, clothing, etc. These supplies will be distributed to the people at the evacuation sites. There will also be a large canopy set up at each evacuation site where the people can congregate under in case of inclement weather.
Login Computer
   Once the people reach the central meeting site computers will be there to login each person. By having everyone sign in, the Micronesian government will be able to see who survived the tsunami by looking at the records of the people in the evacuation sites. Even if everyone who survives does not go to an evacuation site, it will give the government a good estimate of survivors. The login records will also be posted online and updated every hour so that people can check for the names of family members and friends.
Paths to Follow
   When the siren goes off, the evacuees will be following the well-kept evacuation routes to the evacuation site. As Micronesia is lacking in asphalt, we will have to cut trails into the low-lying jungle foliage. These trails will have to be maintained regularly based on the growth of the local jungle plants. The purpose of the trails is to facilitate a quick movement of many people from their villages/cities /municipalities to the tsunami evacuation zone. The trails should be large enough to allow passage of the few cars that are present (and wide paths would also make it easier for a large group of people to get to the evacuation site). These paths will be maintained by the government at least once a month so that they remain usable.
    1. Earth Watch (Date Not Available). Island Directory. Retrieved November 5, 2005 from http://islands.unep.ch/ILV.htm
    2. Eroarome Martin Aregheore (2002) Micronesia. Federated States of Micronesia. Retrieved November 6, 2005 from http://www.fao.org/WaICENT/FAOINFO/AGRICULT/AGP/AGPC/doc/Counprof/southpacific/micronesia.htm
    3. David Fogarty(January 17, 2005). Mangrove Action Project. Tsunami-Hit Nations Look To Save Mangroves. Retrieved October 23, 2005 from http://www.earthisland.org/map/ltfrn_150.htm#stories
    4. TavelPost.com(Date Not Available). Palikir, Micronesia| Atlas-style Maps, Time Zone, Facts and Figures.Palikir, Micronesia. Retrieved November 9, 2005 from http://www.travelpost.com/PO/Micronesia/Pohnpei/Pallikir/6142693
    5. CountryWatch.com(Date Not Available) Micronesia-CountryWatch.com. Micronesia. Retrieved November 4, 2005 from http://aol.countrywatch.com/aol_country.asp?vCOUNTRY=115
    6. Fallingrain.com (Date Not Available) Directory of Cities and Towns in State of Pohnpei. Places of State of Pohnpei. Retrieved November 5, 2005 from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/FM/2
    7. USGS(2005, January 16) USGS Earthquake Hazards Program – Latest Earthquakes. Preliminary Earthquake Report. Retrieved October 23, 2005 from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqinthenews/2005/ustiaq/
    8. Seismo-Watch.com(1999) Seismo-Watch Special Earthquake Report No. 99-022. Seismo-Watch Special Earthquake Report No. 99-022. Retrieved Retrieved October 23, 2005 from http://www.seismo-watch.com/EQS/AB/99/990920.Taiwan7.6.html
    9 WeatherBase.com(2005) Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Colonia, Federated States of Micronesia. Retrieved November 5, 2005 from http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=914130
    10. Tageo.com(2005) MICRONESIA Population of major cities Geography Population Map City and cities coordinates location. Retrieved November 5, 2005 From http://www.tageo.com/index-e-fm-cities-FM.htm.
    11. Fallingrain.com (Date Not Available) Directory of Cities and Towns in State of Kosrae. Places of State of Kosrae. Retrieved November 5, 2005 from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/FM/1/
    12. Kathy Moley(August 31, 1996) On Shaky Ground 2 Tsunami. Tsunamis. Retrieved October 23, 2005 from http://sorrel.humboldt.edu/%7egeodept/earthquakes/shaky2_tsunami.html.
    13. CIA (2005, 30 August) CIA The World Factbook: Federated States of Micronesia. Retrieved September 22, 2005 from http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/fm.html.
    14. Mara, D. Duncan, and Technology Advising Group (1984). The Design of Ventilated Improved Pit Latrines. United Nations Interregional Development Program Project.
    15. edref.com(2004-2005) Electronic And Computer Technology Training In Federated States Of Micronesia. Retrieved November 10, 2005 from http://www.edref.com/college-degrees/engineering-technology-and-technicians/electronic-and-computer-technology/federated-states-of-micronesia.

Peru


»Current Plan


  Peru's current national tsunami evacuation plan can be found at this link.

Positive Aspects
  The positive aspects of the current plan include predetermined meeting places where extremely large groups can fit. For example, some of the Lima safe-havens include sports stadiums (Estadio Municipal) and universities (Universidad Nacional). This is a good use of resources considering the fact that these places are used to accommodating many people, though, granted, not for an extended period of time. Other safe locations include large public parks.

Problems
  • The pedestrian evacuation routes in many cases overlap with the vehicular evacuation routes. This is a problem because panicked people will not act rationally, especially when in a group. The people may interfere with the flow of vehicular traffic. Scared motorists may, out of fear, do something drastic. In essence, putting people and cars on the same road just creates an additional risk that is potentially lethal.
  • The plan also seems to completely neglect the fact that there may be disabled people or elderly people without access to cars, who could not walk such distances. There should be a special evacuation "bus" system for hospitals, nursing homes, and other locations with a high concentration of such people. In this way, each person can get to safety if they can get to one of those stops, walk, or drive.
  • The plan also does not differentiate between high- and low-risk areas along the coast. After analysis of topography, elevation, and population maps, we have concluded that the high-risk areas include Lima, Callao, Trujillo, Chiclayo, and other areas of lower elevation as these locations are low or densely populated.
  • The plan also is not helpful if people do not know the routes ahead of time. In the event of a tsunami, people need to know where they are supposed to go. For this reason, we propose a sign network consisting of permanent signs that direct people towards the predetermined locations. In this way, people would have a general idea of where they are supposed to go, and upon seeing the signs recall where they should go. It may seem a bit silly having their signs; however, in the event of such an event, there would be such hysteria that this precaution is warranted.

»Evacuees



Taken from http://www.shunya.net/Pictures/Peru/peru-map.jpg November 21, 2005.

Evacuating the Departments
  Peru is divided into first departments and then subdivided into provinces, each of which has several cities. Out of the 25 total departments, we are evacuating the 11 that border the coastline of Peru. These are the departments we are evacuating:
  • Ancash
  • Lima
  • Arequipa
  • Moquegua
  • Callao
  • Piurna
  • Ica
  • Tacna
  • La Libertad
  • Tumbes
  • Lambayeque


The Evacuees
  Using data from Falling Rain Genomics (http://www.fallingrain.com), which has information about elevations and estimated populations for 7 km radii, and GeoHive Global Statistics1 which gives 2003 population estimates based on census information from 1993 (for Peru) and population growth rates, we evaluated each of the 11 departments to determine how many people we had to evacuate from each region. We did this by taking the entire department’s population and subtracting the population of provinces that were deemed to be safe within that department. The cutoff for a city’s safety was determined to be around 500-600 meters because the average elevation given on Falling Rain Genomics was for only a 7 km radius of the city, and cities tend to spread over a larger radius, so a considerable population of the city would live at a lower elevation than the estimate given. Now yes, this does make for a very large estimate because many cities are around 200 meters where presumably by a less conservative estimate, they would be safe. However, the highest tsunami ever recorded reached a height of 520 meters.2 Therefore, 500-600 meters elevation is pretty reasonable, and limits the amount of data to be considered. Also, we only looked at provinces with populations larger than 20,000 thousand people to limit the amount of data to be considered and to provide a more conservative estimate.
Ancash

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/2/Huaraz.html November 21, 2005.



Arequipa

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/4/Arequipa.html November 21, 2005.



Callao

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/7/Callao.html November 21, 2005.



Ica

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/11/Ica.html November 21, 2005.



La Libertad

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/13/Trujillo.html November 21, 2005.



Lambayeque

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/14/Chiclayo.html November 21, 2005.



Lima

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/15/Lima.html November 21, 2005.



Note: It may not be necessary to evacuate the city of Lima depending on tsunami height. The city is located on a bluff, which is probably high enough to be safe from the “average” tsunami height.

Moquegua

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/18/Moquegua.html November 21, 2005.



Piura

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/20/Piura.html November 21, 2005.



Tacna

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/23/Tacna.html November 21, 2005.



Tumbes

Taken from http://www.fallingrain.com/world/PE/24/Tumbes.html November 21, 2005.



»Transportation


General Population
  When the warning system goes off in Peru, people will begin to evacuate to predetermined locations marked off by signs (see before tsunami preparation) that are about 2 miles inland in one of two ways:
  • Motor Vehicles: People will be allowed to evacuate via motor vehicles along vehicular evacuation routes, which will include the larger highways that can take the amount of traffic that evacuation will generate. These routes are different from the pedestrian evacuation, but lead to the same evacuation sites. These evacuation sites will include different sports stadiums, universities, and other large buildings that were designed to hold many people at once.
  • Pedestrians: People without motor vehicles will evacuate along predetermined "rutas pedentales" (pedestrian routes). These routes will follow a similar path to the vehicular routes, though there will be no overlap to limit unnecessary potentially lethal risks. The pedestrian routes will go slightly more than 2 miles inland, meaning that even given the minimal time of 20 minutes (if the epicenter of the earthquake and tsunami is close to the coast)3, most people will be able to walk to the evacuation site within the warning time.
  • Traffic Issues: In our revisions of Peru's current tsunami evacuation plan, we have designed separate routes for automobiles and for pedestrians. This will make it easier for both the cars and people to get out considering it would be inefficient and potentially dangerous or lethal to have both pedestrians and motor vehicles on the same road under such stressful conditions.4


Special Cases, Volunteers, and Vehicles
  Hospitals, nursing homes, and other areas that have a high concentration of disabled and/or elderly people need special evacuation. As these people are unable to walk the distance to the safety zone, it is necessary to have them bussed.
  The drivers in this emergency trafficking system must be volunteers that go through rigorous training. Again, getting people to volunteer and remain dedicated to the task will require psychological research. They need to be warned immediately through the Emergency Warning System and have a direct connection or "ear to" the Chain of Command.
  It would be beneficial and efficient if the special drivers were already working in the hospitals and nursing homes, so that they could get to the vehicles immediately after the warning is sent out. Psychologically, this is also a better plan because the workers will already have an emotional connection and responsibility to the patients, which would not be the case if separate government workers were assigned to drive the emergency vehicles.
  As traffic will be converted to one-way towards higher ground during the evacuation, it is necessary to have caches of vehicles in these areas with disabled and elderly people. Basically, emergency vehicles must be stored at the special case evacuation locations as bringing in cars would be impossible (they would have to move against the flow of traffic). Some of the nursing homes may already have vehicles for moving their senior citizens, which can then be used for the evacuation with no extra cost to be considered in the budget.

»Safety Locations


Basic Location
  Because evacuation in Peru will involve thousands of people from each province, evacuation locations should be capable of supporting around 20,000 people each. Therefore, the ideal evacuation site would be a large building like a university or a stadium.
  Since Peru has multiple universities and large buildings that are at least two miles from the coast, it would be reasonable for all of the people that were evacuated to meet in these safety spots such as sport stadiums like Estadio Municipal, Teodoro Fernandez, and Nacional Jose Diaz, and universities like Universidad Nacional and Universidad San Marcos. These meeting places are also easy to indicate on signs because people already know of these locations. See the link for more stadiums5.

Our team e-mailed each university in Peru asking for the following information (though in spanish):
  1. Where is the university in relation to the ocean?
  2. How many students and teachers are in the school?
  3. Where are large places, like gyms, stadiums or buildings where many people can stay for a while?
  4. Is there a hospital on campus?
  5. Are there locations to prepare food for many people?
  6. What is the elevation of the university?
  7. Are there places that can hold many people close to campus, like a local high school gym?

Return E-mails: We only received 2 emails.

Email #1:
Hola Kenneth:
  La Universidad Andina se ubica en el Departamento del Cusco y se encuentra a 3390 metros sobre el nivel del mar. El numero de alumnos es en promedio 6000 estudiantes y profesores cerca de 300. La Universidad tiene 4 locales distribuidos en la ciudad del Cusco, cerca de dos de ellos existe un estadio un local se encuentra en el centro de la ciudad el que no tiene espacios grandes cerca. En cuanto a hospitales existen variso hospitales cerca de los locales de la Universidad.
Espero esta informacion te ayude
Saludos Email #2:
Dear Mr. Donahue:
  Thanks for your request. But you must know that we are a brand new and really small university in Peru (like a College in USA) and besides, we are so overwhelmed by our daily life that we are not really concerned by a tsunami because:
  1. What matters (in a third world country) is our present lives, and
  2. taking care of each other day by day and
  3. not waiting for a disaster to figure out how to deal with danger.
  4. The probabilities to have a tsunami affecting our University are maybe of the 0.0001 %
Finally, and I'm sorry for that, but we really have no time to answer your questions.

Basically, this leaves us with the same information we had before: evacuation sites should be large places, like universities, stadiums, and parks that are in a safe zone (a relatively high elevation). Specific universities and stadiums will be marked out by the local officials placed in charge of tsunami evacuation and preparation because the mission team cannot gather sufficient information at this time. Criteria for evacuation site should include elevation above that of the tsunami height, closeness to population centers so that it can easily be reached, and agreement of building owners of use of the building. An estimate should also be made of how many people the center can support and each evacuation site should be marked on a map and tsunami signs specific to each location should be generated.

Evacuation Site Specifics
  Since the evacuation site will be in a large stadium or university, shelter will already be provided. But if there are more people than the stadium or university can hold, as there most likely will be because of the large numbers of people we are evacuating near the coast, we will make sure that extra tents are provided so tents can be set up in the parking lots to accommodate everyone. Once the people reach the evacuation site, multiple computers will be at the site to login everyone in. There will also be supplies such as food, water, medical supplies, blankets, clothing etc. These supplies will be distributed to the people at the evacuation sites.
  Each evacuation site will be equipped with diesel-powered generator, satellite phones, and a computer workstation with satellite uplink. Some diesel fuel will be safely stored on-site in a flameproof lockbox because it may be difficult to obtain during the emergency. The reason diesel-powered generators are optimal is they are relatively low-tech and easily maintained and fixed if broken. Special personnel will use the computer workstation for various purposes that will help run the evacuation camps. Furthermore, petroleum diesel engines can be fueled with biodiesel, which is cleaner and may be cheaper and easier to obtain than petroleum diesel in the future.6

Login Computers
  Once the people reach the central meeting site computers will be there to login each person. By having everyone sign in, the Peruvian government will be able to see who survived the tsunami by looking at the records of the people in the evacuation sites. Even if everyone who survives does not go to an evacuation site, it will give the government a good estimate of survivors. The login records will also be posted online and updated approximately every hour so that people can check for the names of family members and friends.



    1. GeoHive(2005) GeoHive Global Statistics. Retrieved November 21, 2005 from http://212.204.253.230
    2. Holladay, A. (2002). The highest tsunami:1958, Alaska. Retrieved November 20, 2005, from http://www.wonderquest.com/tsunami-highest.htm
    3. National Weather Service. (2005). Pacific Tsunami Warning Center – About PTWC. Retrieved November 20, 2005, from http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ptwc/aboutptwc.htm
    4. http://www.dhn.mil.pe/index.asp?pag=divulgacion
    5. World Stadiums. (Not given). World Stadiums – Stadiums in Peru. Retrieved November 20, 2005, from http://www.worldstadiums.com/south_america/countries/peru.shtm
    6. National Biodiesel Board (2005). Biodiesel Basics. Retrieved October 29, 2005 from http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/biodiesel_basics/default.shtm

Evacuation Guidelines

  1. The police, governmental organizations and other emergency organizations make the evacuation safe and fast as possible. Cooperate with them1.
  2. Do Not Panic. Follow the established evacuation routes.2
  3. Carry along survival supplies during an evacuation:
    • First Aid kit
    • A battery-powered radio, flashlight, extra batteries for each and writing materials for taking notes of information.
    • As much drinkable liquids (water, fruit and vegetable juices, soft drinks, etc.) and ready-to-eat food as you can carry to the shelter
    • Special medicines or foods required by members of your family; such as insulin, heart tablets, dietetic food or baby food, as medical supplies will not be available for at least 36 hours.
    • A blanket for each family member3
  4. Keep important papers with you in a waterproof container at all times3
  5. Bring only what is absolutely necessary (See the list above). Livestock and other possessions will slow you down and jeopardize your safety.


Stages of Evacuation

Stage 1 (Days 1 through 3)


  Large barrack tents within the evacuation sites will be set up as temporary shelters for the evacuated community. Each person will have a 3.5 square meters of floor space for sleeping or at least 10 meters squared of airspace and supplies distributed as soon as available.1 Because each village will have their designated locations, mass temporary shelters should not cause any large social problems. In the case of Peru the evacuees will be sheltered in stadiums, hotels and college campuses. In stadiums large barrack tents will be set up to provide temporary shelter for evacuees. On university campuses, evacuees will occupy areas designed to hold many people like stadiums, courts, fields, and dorms. Hotels and willing households will also provide shelter for evacuees.

Return


  All evacuees are to remain in evacuation sites until all danger of a tsunami has passed. The evacuation camp official will be notified of areas that are safe to return. This information will be announced to the evacuees. Those whose homes were not affected by the tsunami are encouraged to return to their homes.2 If the home community is deemed unsafe and uninhabitable, citizens are to continue living in the evacuation sites.

Stage 2 (Day 3 and beyond)


  In both Micronesia and Peru, if further habitation of evacuation sites is required, a tent will be distributed to individual family units as well as a settlement kit. Evacuees in Peru staying in hotel rooms, dorms, or other indoor facilities, will be provided with just the settlement kit. For Micronesia tents used will have sloping large overhang and made out of materials with low thermal capacity to be suitable for the warm humid climate of the islands. Settlement kits will also include personal hygiene items such as soap and toothbrushes and food preparation units.

   1. WHO (2002) Environmental Health in Emergencies and Disaster: A Practical Guide. World Health Organization 2002, Geneva, Switzerland.
   2. Sphere Project (2004) Humanitarian Charter and Minimum Standards in Disaster Response. Sphere Project 2004, Geneva, Switzerland.