Moo-ve to Higher Ground- The Tsunami Sirens of Cannon Beach Oregon

When staring at a grave threat, be funny about it.

The City of Cannon Beach takes a unique and smart practice in their approach to conducting tsunami warning tests. Through a system of tsunami sirens with voice messaging capability (known as the COmmunity Warning System or COWS), instead of the piercing alarm of a standard siren, the community conducts tests of the system with the sound of cows mooing. In an actual tsunami emergency, the Cannon Beach sirens emit a standard non-bovine alarm to alert residents and visitors to seek high ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E52UHuPsytY

The City of Cannon Beach is a popular tourist destination, with a large population at risk within the tsunami inundation area. Depending on the time of year, the population at risk can increase dramatically with tourists and vacationers.

As a result of damages in the community from the tsunami generated by the 1964 Alaskan earthquake and the increased scientific studies and public education on tsunami threats that followed, Cannon Beach installed tsunami warning sirens in 1986. Refinements of the system have led to the COWS sirens and the unique “mooing” test protocol in place today. The “mooing” of the test alarm is a nod to the dairy heritage and cheese industry on the northern Oregon Coast. The city’s unique tsunami warning and evacuation program has won the community the Western States Seismic Policy Commission Award of Excellence . The city’s proactive tsunami planning has also made Cannon Beach the first community in Oregon to be designated as “Tsunami-Ready” by the National Weather Service.

The COWS tsunami siren tests are a smart practice because by using the “moo” alarm for tests of the system, it lessens the “cry wolf” syndrome which happens when frequent false alarms occur, making the public dismissive of warning systems. As indicated in Dennis Mileti’s presentation on public warnings: “When an actual disaster event occurs, the individual response contradicts what had been drilled and practiced. An example of this would be when a fire alarm is constantly sounded; the individual will turn it off and deactivate the alarm instead of leaving the building.” additional studies have been done that confirm this syndrome through the study of psychological effects of behavior as a result of false alarms. Research suggests that “a single false alarm reduces the fear reaction to the next threat by close to fifty percent.”

By having a distinct and whimsical test tone to their sirens, Cannon Beach has implemented a system that distinguishes a test from an actual need for evacuation. Based on the sociological and psychological studies cited above, the system testing practice that the Cannon Beach COWS sirens use circumvents the “cry wolf” syndrome and the unique siren tone lessens the identified sociological/psychological effects caused by frequent testing.

The Cannon Beach sirens also have a less measurable, but positive effect on local tourism. Visitors have mentioned hearing the test for the first time and inquiring about it from locals. Some of these visitors may be getting information on tsunami preparedness for the first time. The oddity of a city playing loud cow mooing sounds through sirens each month is also likely to increase word of mouth tourism promotion of the city. This phenomenon was mentioned by the Western States Seismic Policy Commission: “There have even been instances of people calling from out of town to find when a test will occur so they can come to hear it”.

The “mooing” is a non-threatening and audibly quirky approach that clearly indicates it is not an actual event. As a side benefit, the “mooing” is a source of identification and pride for Cannon Beach, and the monthly tests of the system have become an “event” that serves as a tourism initiator for the city.

When you face a serious danger, sometimes the best solution is just to laugh and work with it. It is the Oregon way.