Following a magnitude 7.0 earthquake off the coast of Northern California on Thursday, hundreds of residents in Pacifica experienced terrifying moments as they rushed to higher ground in order to escape the tsunami zone.
“I took hold of my passport and the dog. I only managed to get my hands on that before leaving. “And the police and fire trucks were blaring down the street with their sirens as I was driving out,” Pacifica resident Maddy Conanan said.
The schools nearest to the sea were evacuated. Students were waiting to be bussed inland on the football field outside Oceana High School when our chopper passed over them.
Roads were a nightmare as a result of the evacuation. People were attempting to leave town, and Highway 1 was miles long with traffic jams.
Helicopters were circling overhead. The fire crew began erecting obstacles and blasting their horns. There was a very genuine sense of urgency because traffic and travel were prohibited on these streets while everything was happening,” Stephan of Pacifica stated.
Areas nearest to the beach were being cleared by police and firefighters.
The tsunami warning was lifted just over an hour after it was issued. “That was music to my ears,” recalls Mayor Sue Vaterlaus.
“Even ordinary sneaker waves or king tides have knocked people into garages. It might have been disastrous in the event of a tsunami,” Vaterlaus told CBS News Bay Area.
According to Vaterlaus, the evacuation reaction will now be assessed by the county and city. She stated that she is aware of the traffic problems when leaving and wants to try to make things better.
“We could use additional freeway services and something to help our freeway because obviously if it was backed up and something happened people could have been injured, hurt, anything could have happened,” stated the mayor.
Additionally, according to the mayor, the city’s tsunami warning sirens failed to sound, leaving some people perplexed as they received notifications on their phones but were unsure whether to leave.
Those sirens are under the jurisdiction of the county’s emergency management department, Vaterlaus said.
“It’s something that I’m sure they’re going to debrief about after all of this is all settled down and decide whether or not those alarms should go off with the warning or not,” she continued.
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