Family Planning for a Tsunami

Whether you are a family of billionaires or just regular folk, it’s a great idea to talk about your disaster plans as a family. Making sure everyone understands what to do during a tsunami is important, especially because they can occur when your family is not together. Make sure that your workplace and your kids’ schools have tsunamis emergency plans so all of your bases are covered.

Keep the Family Prepared

First things first! Keep a copy of your whole plan of action and bullet point lists for each member of the family in your emergency preparedness kit. You’ll want to write it all down to help you remember your important tasks in the heat of the moment.

In your emergency preparedness plan, designate a meeting location that is at least 100 feet above sea level and two miles inland. If you can’t satisfy both requirements quickly, the high ground is the priority, since tsunami will travel quickly over low ground. Since speed is essential, the American Red Cross recommends picking a location that’s no more than 15 minutes walking distance away from your home. 

If there are small children, elderly people, disabled individuals, or pets in your family, you may need more time to reach safety. Make sure you have the tools in your emergency kit to accommodate your whole family in the event of evacuation. This may mean doing additional practice runs during the drill portion of your prep (more on that later). If your pets aren’t accustomed to traveling, now is a great time to familiarize them with the carriers they’ll need to evacuate with you.

You should talk with your children about what to expect in a tsunami and why it’s important to get to higher ground and away from the coast. If your children are old enough to understand, make sure they know the best route to escape to your predetermined shelter point. They should have a route not just from your home but from their school too. Likewise, you should have a route from your place of work. 

Create an Emergency Contact List

As part of your preparation plan, be sure to create an emergency contact list. This contact list should be kept inside your emergency kit. Include people who will want to know about your safety and those whose safety is also at risk if there’s a tsunami. Since tsunamis are big news whenever they happen, many people may want to contact you after you evacuate, so make sure you prioritize your core list to make sure your local friends and loved ones are okay before fielding calls from far flung well-wishers.

You’ve got your kit and your krew ready to go. What about your castle?

About the Authors

Here Comes the Apocalypse Editorial Team

It takes a village! We are researching, writing and fact checking as a family. Collaboration is the name of the game, whether we’re running from a zombie horde or finding the best way to turn a complex concept into a deliciously digestible set of bullet points.

Katherine Esperanza Contributor

Katherine Esperanza is a Los Angeles based writer. When she's not conjuring new queer slice-of-life short stories, she's busy watching the newest films, out at queer shows, supporting queer artists, or just checking out the queer community as a whole.

A former international non-profiteer, small business owner, and co-op'er, Katherine is delighted to help introduce more leftist politics into the disaster preparedness/prepper sphere, which is currently far too right-wing.