Visioning Tsunami Readiness with Alaska Native Communities

Rural Alaska Native communities in coastal regions are threatened by extreme weather events and growing tsunami inundation zones due to climate change. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and the National Weather Service (NWS) has identified 13 "Tsunami Ready" sites in Coastal Alaska. This list excludes many rural Alaska Native communities that have smaller populations. This project will focus on 1) research to survey and document current condition and status of Tsunami evacuation infrastructure for all Alaska Native communities impacted by inundation zones 2) identify Alaska native communities where tsunami evacuation towers may be best solution 3) conduct a design charrette of 2-3 Alaska Native communities to generate 30 percent design solution for a tsunami evacuation tower that serves needs of the community and reflects Alaska Native values and 4) collaborate with federal and non-federal entities to fund tsunami evacuation infrastructure in highest at-risk communities. 

NOAA and NWS research indicates that the threat of tsunami inundation can leave communities in Alaska with only minutes to evacuate. In the Alaskan community of K'udeis X'e, known as Pelican, there is a local effort to construct a trail to higher ground. For more vulnerable members of the population such as Elders, a tsunami evacuation tower could provide immediate shelter and reduce risk of exposure from trail evacuation routes. 

The goal of the design charrette is to collaborate with federal, state, municipal and Tribal entities to design emergency infrastructure that meets engineering standards and serves the community beyond evacuation. This is a community-led design solution. For example, could a Tsunami evacuation tower also serve as a gathering place for the community or Native food processing location? Any new infrastructure rural Alaska tells a story in a community and this solution will be based on the vision of those that live nearby and see it every day. 

This project seeks to solve the problem of inequity in emergency planning infrastructure for rural Alaska Native communities by identifying gaps in emergency planning resources and seeking a model for collaborating with Tribes for design solutions that support their community beyond evacuation. FEMA has several standard designs for tsunami towers; however, the goal of this solution is to ensure collaboration and input from the Alaska Native communities where this infrastructure will have a large footprint in the community. Are there creative or innovative designs that meet other needs for temporary housing or the tourism industry? 

Design technologies that are interactive will be essential to this collaborative problem-solving effort. Selecting and using the best technology to collaborate on design is one of the items that MIT Solve can help support. 

Initial research provided a list of 14 Alaska Native Communities where the maximum inundations levels predicted by the State of Alaska would result in complete flooding and destruction of their community. The state of Alaska "Resilience" page, also indicated these same communities has not having established a "Tsunami Plan". This solution dives deeper into this data and will involve travel to the communities to understand the impact of predicted tsunami threat and discuss on the ground plans for evacuation. The size of these communities range from population of 60 to 713. There is great potential for this solution to save lives in the event of worst case scenario disaster.

This solution will focus on communities identified in the Eastern Aleutian tribes archipelago such as Ahkiok, Akutan along with communities on Kodiak Island such as Old Harbor and Ouzinki. In Southeast Alaska, Pelican is community that is predicted to experience complete inundation. This is a meaningful effort to address community concerns about how to evacuated in case of catastrophic Tsunami. These communities are the location of federally recognized tribes. 

As team lead, I live in Juneau, Alaska and travel to Kodiak, Alaska. I am position to travel to these communities along with members of the team. We are Alaskans and care about the communities and cultures in our state! Keith has 30 years of experience working with federal tribes on infrastructure projects. 

I think this effort would greatly benefit from mentorship and technical support that MIT Solve can provide. I am particularly interested in working with engineers, architects and planners that can assist to developing co-creating activities and support 30 percent concept design for evacuation towers that can be used to apply for funding. Funding for design activities will be helpful to make the vision co-creating with Alaska Native communities a realty. Funding for some travel will assist the team.

We live and work and love the communities of Alaska! It is a big state but a small community.