a_savoir

Hi. Thanks for doing this AMA! I'm glad WA had such great participation in the ShakeOut.

I don't really have questions in regards to earthquake survivability directly, rather, I'm concerned with tsunami and lahar. I realize that we aren't at particularly great risk for either, but given Tohoku, I am worried less about my house falling on me and more about being stuck in a potential inundation zone. If one of the most well prepared countries on Earth suffered great casualties, you can understand my worry about our current situation in WA!

• Many of the business and industrial districts in Tacoma, Seattle, and Olympia are at sea level. Some parts of 5 are very low lying. What should my plan be to get to safety from tsunami or lahar in these instances? Say I'm stuck on a bus in traffic in Fife and I have what feels like nowhere to go, what do I do? There are quite a few areas where traffic or distance to safety appear to make preparing impossible.
• Are transit agencies at all prepared for any of these natural disasters? Do drivers get any training on how to respond to them? Not just earthquakes, but proper evacuation routes along the route they work.
• Do law enforcement personnel and/or any other first responders receive any training in regards to these disasters?
• How about teachers?
• To be honest, all of the disaster preparedness / assistance apps are not good, and/or are only on Apple's app store. Are there any plans to develop a multiplatform app that I can open, that will automatically locate me via GPS, and could guide me to safety? Say, via Google Maps integration.
• What effects would these disasters have on both active and legacy pollution and hazard sites? e.g. the Ruston Way superfund sites, all of the oil heat tanks, the remaining chemical factories and paper mills. Would these pose any additional risks to our drinking water?

And... that's it! Thanks for doing this AMA! :)