From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Watchdog Report #17: US Tsunami Preparedness Audio interview by GAO staff with Anu Mittal, Director, Natural Resources and Environment Associated Report Number: GAO-10-490 Released on: April 28, 2010 [ Background Music ] [ Narrator: ] Welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for news and information from the Government Accountability Office. It's April 28th, 2010. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA is responsible for helping the nation prepare for the possible destructive effects of a tsunami. A group led by Anu Mittal, a director in GAO's Natural Resources and Environment team, recently examined NOAA's tsunami preparedness efforts. GAO analyst Jeremy Cluchey sat down with Anu to learn more. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] One of the primary objectives of NOAA's Tsunami Program focuses on detection of eminent tsunamis. Can you talk about some of the administration's efforts in this area? [ Anu Mittal: ] Yeah, since 2006, NOAA has been taking a number of actions to improve its ability to detect tsunamis. One of the first things that they did is they changed the number of hours that the Tsunami Warning Centers were going to be manned. Before they used to be manned 8 hours a day for 5 days a week, now, they have 24/7 coverage at the Tsunami Warning Centers. The other thing that NOAA did which is much more important, actually, is the fact that they have this huge network of seismic observation stations that measure earthquake activity. They have coastal and water level monitoring stations that measure the impact in the ocean. And they also have deep ocean observation buoys. And there's a whole network of these various pieces that provide information on potential tsunami activity, and they send that information to the Warning Centers so that the Warning Centers know what's going on. And now, NOAA has expanded this network, and has also improved the capabilities of the observation station. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] The next step in this process after detection, and another important component of the tsunami program, is mitigation. What activities is NOAA pursuing that address mitigation of the potential destruction resulting from a tsunami? [ Anu Mittal: ] NOAA has what's called a Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program. And what this program is--it's a partnership between the federal agencies and the state emergency management agencies. What NOAA has done since 2005 is that it has expanded the program, and now it covers all 29 coastal states nationwide that could be potentially at a risk of a tsunami. NOAA has also restructured the Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program so that its activities are more focused on its three main areas, which is to improve warning coordination, to improve mapping and modeling of potential tsunamis, and also to improve mitigation efforts and education of the public. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] You mentioned some specific programs where NOAA partners with local organizations to improve public education about tsunami awareness and preparation. To what extent did GAO find that programs like these have been successful in partnering with local organizations? [ Anu Mittal: ] The main program is called Tsunami Ready. And what this program is, it's a voluntary program, and it encourages local communities to educate their citizens about tsunami hazards. It also encourages communities to develop mitigation plans, and also establish local warning systems. The concern that we have had--and we have this concern in 2006 when we reviewed the program for the first time--and more recently, we've had the same concern is the low level of participation in the program. There are 760 at-risk communities that NOAA has identified across the country for tsunamis. But only 74, which is less than 10 percent, have actually participated in the program. One of the things that was the most important was the reluctance of communities to participate in the program because what it does is it highlights the tsunami hazard for the community. And many of these communities depend on tourism for their local economies, so they don't want to scare off the tourists by highlighting the tsunami hazard that might be present in the community. So that may be one of the main reasons why communities have not participated. [ Jeremy Cluchey: ] More generally, what did GAO find are some of the biggest challenges facing NOAA's tsunami preparedness efforts? [ Anu Mittal: ] There are two main challenges that we found. The first one is maintaining the network of observation stations. The second biggest challenge is how to get local communities to participate in the Tsunami Ready Program. Ultimately, if you have a local tsunami event where you do not have the ability to send out a warning because local tsunamis happen within minutes, you know--tsunami happens and within minutes they hit the coast--and if you do not have an educated public that knows what the signs are about impending tsunami and knows what actions they have to take, there is no way to protect them. And so, getting communities to participate in the Tsunami Ready Program is a huge challenge for NOAA. [ Background Music ] [Narrator:] To learn more, visit GAO's Web site at gao.gov, and be sure to tune in to the next edition of GAO's Watchdog Report for more from the congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability Office.