The city of Santa Barbara Office of Emergency Services has started putting up tsunami signs within the affected coastal areas, with the first one installed Thursday.

Anthony Prieto, a maintenance crew leader with the city’s Public Works Department, installed the first “Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone” sign, at La Marina and Shoreline Drive.

In the next several months, city street crews will put up 58 signs along the affected areas of the coastline. The signs will assist the city of Santa Barbara in joining with other coastal communities in becoming a Tsunami-Ready Community.

The signs are both directional and educational, and have been provided to the city at no cost from the California Emergency Management Agency.

As part of an awareness/preparedness campaign, the city hosted two tsunami community meetings, on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27.

A map is available that shows the placement for future signs. (Noozhawk’s note: Scroll down the page to see indundation maps for the city of Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Airport.)

“We are very excited to see these signs go up in our community,” said Yolanda McGlinchey, emergency services manager for the city of Santa Barbara. “The city has been working on becoming a Tsunami-Ready Community, and this is one of the final steps to receive this designation from the National Weather Service.”

“The city of Santa Barbara will not be ‘tsunami-proof,’ however, being a Tsunami-Ready Community means Santa Barbara will be more prepared for the dangers associated with tsunamis and that will ultimately save lives and reduce property damage,” said Mark Jackson, meteorologist-in-charge of the Oxnard National Weather Service office.

“The city cares that its residents, businesses and tourists should be aware of the possible hazards associated with living, working or visiting our coastal community,” Fire Chief Andrew DiMizio said. “We want our community to know that it is not a good idea to run to the beaches when there is a tsunami warning. What we want them to do is be prepared to evacuate if necessary, and have their emergency kits ready to go.”

For more information, call the city’s Office of Emergency Services at 805.564.5711.

— Yolanda McGlinchey is the emergency services manager for the city of Santa Barbara.

Tsunami Inundation Map of the City of Santa Barbara

Tsunami Inundation Map of the Santa Barbara Airport