There's been a lot of talk lately about tsunami warning systems in SE Asia, and the challenges involved in implementing one where even basic phone service may be lacking.
As the DesiBloggers of Sepia Mutiny note, why settle for a warning when you can have a full defence? One that saved several populated areas during the recent tsunami.
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Just one correction: The blog is "Sepia Mutiny."
It's not a full defence, it's a partial defence. It is no help for ports, beaches or river mouths - the places where people and their structures tend to be located - but it can be some help in largely unpopulated areas. More importantly, mangroves provide a nursery for fishes in the intertidal zone and stop erosion from normal wave action.
If you read the cited article you'll see that after 15 years of concerted effort only one tenth of the coastline is vegetated now. This is hardly a full defence and never will be. The effort is worthwhile for other benefits but shouldn't be confused with tsunami defence
The denuding of coastlines Sepia Mutiny is talking about is not what I think most people are talking about. It is very real and does work for very specific issues. The kind of underwater system that is driven by sensors and would provide an over the air alert a government agency is. Before everyone starts devising systems and spending money I think we ought to ask the US Navy to use their underwater submarine tracking systems. How you work out the logistics is a nightmare but you can bet the naval station on Diego Garcia know it was coming.
Joe:
Just spent some relaxing time in Key West kayaking through the mangroves. They've stopped the dredge and fill operations that created "New Town," but the downside is that real estate prices are going into the stratosphere, driving out the old time "Buffetesque" residents. Well, there's always a down side.
By the way, did you get my recent email? I'm never sure I've made it past the filters until someone responds.
--Scott
Here on the Oregon coast there are no mangrove swamps. The only natural protection from a tsunami is to never go near sea level. Native American oral history and archeology document recurring tsunami devastation in this area. Each time a tsunami has hit, most of the people living in the coastal areas have perished. Around here, if you choose to live near the ocean, the only solution is an early warning system.
It's definitely a good idea, but it's not enough. Cringely has a good idea for a pretty inexpensive and relatively simple warning system.
Here's a comment I received in an email from a friend who was in Cochin (west coast of southern India, not deeply affected)during the tsunami. He traveled to Nagapattinam to help with disaster recovery:
"In all the experiences I heard, the water went far, far out before the wave came in. If people knew that this was the warning sign of a tsunami, they could get a head start and often survive, but unfortunately the natural response is to walk out to see what happened to the water. By the time the answer comes it's too late to get away. Seems to me that simply reminding people, once every ten years or so, to run if the water goes away would be a lot cheaper and more effective than a high-tech tsunami detection system that only serves to tell some central authority that the people on the coast only have an hour or two to live (since in India at least, there's no way to spread a warning that quickly)."