The oceanfront Quileute Tribal School complex is situated between 15 and 25 feet above sea level, well within the tsunami inundation zone. (Tom Banse/Northwest News Network)
The rare but ever-present risk of a tsunami has worried people along the Pacific Northwest coast for years. Different communities are working on moving critical facilities to higher ground. Years of talk and planning are turning to action this month in La Push, Washington. The Quileute Tribe has begun logging and road building to relocate its seaside village out of the tsunami and flood zone.
Land clearing and roadbuilding is underway on an elevated 26-acre parcel that will be home to the new Quileute Tribal School. (Tom Banse/Northwest News Network)A school bus is always on standby at the Quileute Tribal School front door when classes are in session in the event a tsunami evacuation warning sounds. (Tom Banse/Northwest News Network)Rendering of the future upper village. The new school is at lower right. (Quileute Nation)
This article was originally published on November 15, 2017.
