LINCOLN CITY –– The large, bright orange polyurethane sphere became a playground as children climbed onto and into it, trying to figure out what, exactly, it was.

“That’s a bomb,” said three-year-old Oliver Romero. “It’s a submarine. I wish I could go into it.”

The toddler’s guess about the strangely-shaped orb being a submarine was closer to the mark. The object, large enough to fit an adult or two children, was actually a tsunami pod. The pod serves as a lifeboat for those who live in low-lying coastal areas close to the water who, in the event of the tsunami following the Cascadia earthquake, can’t get to higher ground in time.

“Boats have extra lifeboats. How come homes don’t have them?,” said Pete Riedel, one of the owners of Reliable Emergency Shelters, the company that manufactures the tsunami pods. “We hope to save a lot of lives.”

Reliable Emergency Shelters’ tsunami pod wasn’t the only life-saver on display Saturday. The North Lincoln Fire & Rescue St. Clair station played host to dozens of government agencies, businesses and nonprofits offering products and services designed to not only prepare central coast residents for The Big One, but tell them where to go to escape the tsunami and find shelter.

“When something bad happens, we won’t have help coming our way,” said Jim Kusz, public information, education and district safety officer for North Lincoln Fire & Rescue. “Something as catastrophic as the Cascadia, it’ll be weeks or months before we get help our way.”

The impending reality of the destruction caused by the Cascadia earthquake and ensuing tsunami is a real fear for many. While none of the schools in the Lincoln County School District are in the tsunami inundation zone, every school and district building has a metal cargo container full of supplies which students and staff would need if the earthquake happened during school hours. Oregon Coast Community College’s campus in Newport also has a “cache container,” which could feed 4,000 people over the course of three weeks.

Officials say damage from the waves will break down roads and bridges, making it difficult, if not impossible, to ship food, water, medical supplies and other necessities to those along the coast. The U.S. Navy — which would ship in supplies to coastal communities ravaged by natural disasters like Cascadia — estimates it will take three weeks to reach coastal residents.

“We talk about it and how to be prepared,” said Kusz of his family. “You’ve got to be prepared to help yourself.”

Many in coastal cities took steps to prepare over the last few years. Evacuation drills in Newport were held every fall since 2015, and community presentations about the Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake will be held by the county in Lincoln City on Sept. 25 and in Newport on Oct. 18.

“People need to be ‘three-weeks ready’ and they need to be ready to help others,” said Jenny Demaris, Lincoln County’s emergency services manager. “Local government is getting a sense of what the local impact will be.”

Certain stretches of the Oregon coast will be harder hit than others, Demaris said, because the sea level of a given city or area will determine how much destruction the waves will wreak.

“For some areas, the waves won’t reach as far,” Demaris said. “Depoe Bay sits up higher already. It’s just based on elevation.”

Elevation of a city, town or community will play a direct role in just how far the tsunami waves go, Demaris added.

“The water runs out of energy the higher the energy has to go,” Demaris said. “The higher it goes, it burns off that energy, so it’s important to get as high as you can.”

For residents of the central coast’s communities, how far the tsunami waves go up and inland and the destruction wrought by the initial earthquake are huge concerns and prompt many families to prepare for the worst.

“We’re in Otis, so we’re out of the tsunami zone, but I’m concerned about how to prepare,” said Jenelle Romero, a homemaker and mother to Oliver, the toddler who called the tsunami pod a submarine. “My biggest concern as a parent is school preparedness. That’s the biggest one. How I would get my family back together.”

Photos by Shelby Wolfe of The News-Times

Reach reporter Madeline Shannon at [email protected]