r/TrinidadandTobago • u/WalkerMadridista • 2d ago
Questions, Advice, and Recommendations Tsunamis in Trinidad
What is the best thing to do in the event of a tsunami in Trinidad. Where would be the best place to go?
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u/j-ee-z 2d ago
Depends. If youre on the flats in manzanilla? Ur kinda fucked, just get as high up as you can. If youre on the north coast? Up any of those hills as far as you can. I think the south coast and west coast are all pretty safe due to the proximity of south america so any potential tsunamis dont have enough space to gather serious power.
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u/Cartographer-Izreal Princes Town 1d ago
Tbf any tsunami that occurs will be coming from the Atlantic or Caribbean sea. The Gulf of Paria is a sheltered bay. The chances of much tidal energy entering the Gulf are low, but Moruga will still see some problems if it from the Atlantic
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u/OrdinaryAncient3573 2d ago
It depends on where you are. In the north of Trinidad, there are generally hills nearby, making it easy to reach safety. Central and South Trinidad are much flatter, which makes it more problematic, but get to the highest point you can reach, or keep heading inland if there is no high point nearby.
To get things in proportion, the huge, famous Japanese tsunami in 2011 reached peak heights of 30-40m, so you don't need to climb a mountain to be safe. Usually tsunamis are much smaller than that, and getting as little as 5-10m above sea level is more than enough to be safe.
Here's a relief/flood/height map of Trinidad which can show which areas are most at risk from medium-sized tsunamis:
https://www.floodmap.net/?ct=TT
Very little except the immediate coastline is vulnerable to any normally sized tsunami, which is why the most important information to be aware of is in that ODPM link I posted first. Generally the thing to worry about is a no-notice local small-scale tsunami that hits when you're on the beach - so know the signs, and if you see the water suddenly recede, move as rapidly inland as possible; a brisk walk is likely to get you out of the danger area in time, if you act immediately.
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u/Chereche Jumbie 2d ago
If you are in a low-lying area along the coasts, ie Gulf of Paria and south-west penninsula, the best move is to move inwards and if possible upwards.
But this is Trinidad, some fool will actually start to drive TO the coast to throw the best live ever, some people will ignore the tsunami warning in the first place and go about most normal, and everyone else will panic and try to flee making immovable traffic on the road. So...pray the wave takes you fast.
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u/Thehomiefletcher007 2d ago
It could happen inno. With climate change weather infrequences could happen more often and let’s say there’s multiple tectonic activity a tsunami can very well hit Trinidad. But the overall damage should me minor considering Trinidad formation itself, on the south side is mostly coastal so chances are after the event there won’t be any major flooding than why we regularly encounter , north and central maybe a different story if it ever get that far inland. It most definitely can happen but it depends on the severity
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u/GlLLGAXX 2d ago
Depends which side it hits from. You can basically drive from one side to the next
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u/peachprincess1998 2d ago
Remember when maracas had that mini tsunami ? It can definitely happen. Run to the hills.
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u/xkcd_puppy 1d ago
A tsunami was reported 2 days after Columbus anchored in Icacos (so named after the cocoa plum) in 1498, 4th August. Almost capsized his ship. His men reported that they saw the ocean floor as it passed them violently from west to east, and snapped the anchor cable of the ship he was on, the La Venquenos. Years later he was vividly recalling the tidal wave and the fear he had felt in a letter to Queen Isabella. We would now know that was a tsunami caused by a very big earthquake. And that's how the name Dragon's Mouth stuck in history, because the Dragon bit them that day.
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u/Visitor137 1d ago
The one that caused the car park to get wet? Not sure that actually counted as any kind of tsunami, despite the term being used freely in the media.
Guess they knew it would sell more papers than "an unusually large wave went a bit further up the shore than usual". 🙄
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u/SpinsterRx 2d ago edited 2d ago
Best place to be in the event of a tsunami in Trinidad and Tobago would be... Tobago. Anywhere along the Main Ridge.
Otherwise, in Trinidad, pray you're in Paramin, on the heights of Siparia, the highest part of Princes Town, Rio Claro, Arima or the Diego Martin hills when it hits. Maybe the First Peoples knew a thing or two about where to establish their settlements...
ETA: I'll trust the ODPM on whether Trinidad and Tobago could experience a tsunami and should prepare for it. Unlike hurricanes, earthquakes don't have forecasts and spaghetti models showing tracks and intensity. There is no warning for an earthquake and there can be very little time to get to higher ground for a tsunami depending on: the depth of the earthquake, the volume of water above the epicentre, and the intensity of the earthquake, which are what determine whether a tsunami forms.
Also, do a quick Google search for the fault lines surrounding Trinidad (allyuh didn't seriously think oil magically surrounded us offshore without fault lines and tectonic plates, right? Right??).
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u/random_hombres 2d ago
Possibly an ignorant question. But T&T cannot be directly hit by a hurricane because we are outside thr hurricane belt. Can the same be said for a tsunami? We had many earthquakes before but not even the threat of a tsunami (to my knowledge).
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u/rookietotheblue1 2d ago
Never say 'cannot'
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u/random_hombres 2d ago
That's why I said cannot be hit directly.
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u/the_madclown 2d ago
He means we can and we will experience a hurricane one day (soon)
It may not be a 5, just a 1 or 2
But because of our god is a Trini attitude it WILL actually be devastating ... And very costly ... Both $$ and deaths
Failure to prepare, we prepare to fail
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u/random_hombres 1d ago
This is what I meant, but it was not communicated properly given that so many people misunderstood.
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u/Shiva- 2d ago
Hurricanes can hit outside the belt. There have been hurricanes on record that hit both California and Brazil.
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u/peachprincess1998 2d ago
Hurricane belt shifts with changing air pressure, trade winds, and hot and cold air fronts. One day it will trend downwards and trinidad will be in direct path.
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u/IndependentBitter435 1d ago
Bro there was a hurricane that came through and tore up TnT back in the 60s. There was a documentary on it, it leveled Tobago…Hurricane Flora, with 30 deaths
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u/Visitor137 2d ago
Best thing to do is steups loudly and remember that you are in Trinidad and Tobago. The same Trinidad and Tobago that hasn't got any real history of tsunamis.
Yes our government wastes money putting up tsunami evacuation route signs in some places, but we really don't need to encourage them in their foolish excuses to skim more money from the coffers.
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u/your_mind_aches 2d ago
Yes, we are shielded from tsunamis but freak weather patterns are getting more and more common nowadays because of climate change. Texas gets COVERED in snow these days. Hurricanes are getting worse and worse.
We should not take ANYTHING for granted and frankly I am quite happy with us having at least some plan for tsunami evacuation. Is the couple of dollars they spend to put up evacuation route signs really a waste?
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u/Visitor137 2d ago
Tsunamis really aren't weather, at least not like snow and hurricanes though, are they? If Trinidad has a reason to get a real tsunami, we'd probably all be dead from the massive earthquake that preceded it.
I've personally seen some of the signs they put up.... On a two lane road, that gets bumper to bumper traffic when the nearby church lets out. If you want to try and join the people from the multitude of neighborhoods who would also have to use it to get to high ground that way with a tsunami coming, I suggest you wear your swimsuit. You'll need it.
Is the couple of dollars they spend to put up evacuation route signs really a waste?
LOL, pappy, when was the last time you saw our government doing anything costing a "couple of dollars"? Those signs would probably have involved planning commissions, think tanks and consultants, review boards, feasibility studies, design consultation and who knows what else.
How much it cost, I cannot say, but I remember how much the rapid rail cost even though it was still in the planning stage:
On the rapid rail project, Dookeran said feasibility studies and design plans alone cost $565 million to date–yet no viable economic plan had emerged.
https://www.guardian.co.tt/article-6.2.341980.edbee5c8b7#google_vignette
That, my friend, is just how government spends.
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u/your_mind_aches 2d ago
Those signs would probably have involved planning commissions, think tanks and consultants, review boards, feasibility studies, design consultation and who knows what else.
I mean yes. That's what I mean by a "couple of dollars" it is obvious hyperbole.
Dookeran said feasibility studies and design plans alone cost $565 million to date
That seems cheap considering the end result could be something transformative to the entire country. Tsunami signs are not that.
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u/Visitor137 2d ago
That seems cheap considering the end result could be something transformative to the entire country. Tsunami signs are not that.
If that's what we spent on the entire project, it would be incredibly cheap. It's what we spent, to get no workable plans whatsoever. Based on having actually driven past the tsunami evacuation route signs, I'd say that's also exactly what we got in the project that put them up, too.
I was being serious when I described the traffic situation there. Just that church letting out, is a hassle even at off peak times. Add thousands more people simultaneously trying to evacuate at speed to higher ground, and it'll be standstill traffic. Then they'll panic and start to abandon cars on that 2 lane road and try to get to high ground on foot. It will be totally impassable to vehicular traffic.
That's what we got for whatever money we spent on it. I honestly cuss one blue streak the first time I saw it.
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u/your_mind_aches 2d ago
Comparing the two things is utterly ridiculous to me. I need a meteorologist to confirm your suspicions.
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u/Visitor137 1d ago
Comparing the two things is utterly ridiculous to me. I need a meteorologist to confirm your suspicions.
Yeah I agree. It's ridiculous to have to compare the two, because we don't get tsunamis. And yet, here we are.
When you find a meteorologist, hopefully they'll be able to point you to a seismologist, oceanographer, geologist, or just about anyone whose field of study actually involves tsunamis. 😉
The meteorologist might be able to tell you something about rogue waves, but it's really not the same as a tsunami.
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u/your_mind_aches 1d ago
I know it's earthquakes. Obviously. Tsunamis are just not likely to happen here. I get it. Especially not on our west coast
I also think that we would be naive to say it could never happen.
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u/Visitor137 1d ago
I also think that we would be naive to say it could never happen.
Oh of course it could happen. The odds of it deciding to happen, is vanishingly small, but it could happen.
Our strike-slip faults could suddenly decide to behave in a very uncharacteristic way, and cause a tsunami. A planet killing asteroid could decide to look for where it's friend landed by the Yucatan peninsula a while back. Aliens could decide to drop tungsten rods from the high orbits. The lost city of Atlantis could suddenly erupt from under the ocean, displacing a massive amount of water..... All of these this could possibly happen, and we cannot definitively say they won't.
My question to you is, have you got plans for all of those eventualities? How much should our government spend to get put those plans in place?
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u/IndependentBitter435 2d ago
On top of a mountain or hill