Santa Cruz county responds to Tsunami alerts in Davenport
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- While things are slowly starting to get back to normal, it’s been a tense few hours for everyone. Some locals and as many can imagine people here were on edge, taking the alert seriously.
"This is stressful," Brian Coltrin from Davenport said. "It was like everyone's phones going off at once."
Stress was a theme for many in the Davenport and Santa Cruz County area, this was the first time for many people experiencing a tsunami warning.
"We like coming up highway one because of the very scenic nature of the ocean and everything," Marty Florek from Chicago said. "We're driving and all of a sudden these alerts are happening."
Many were enjoying the views along the coast when loud alerts started going off on their phones.
"When i saw the 7.8 earthquake, that could be a large tsunami," Coltrin said. "I raced up here at the school, said that they're under an evacuation potential order, but definitely tsunami alert and so I wanted to be here in case I had to get my son up to higher ground."
Many took immediate action to get in touch with family and get to higher ground.
"I have friends and clients who live right along the beach in a flood zone," Clark Carabulas Santa Cruz resident said. "I did get the emergency evacuation, I immediately got in touch with them and they were scrambling to get to higher ground."
"I was just talking to those sheriff police up there, and they also said that it's very rare that something like this happens. so when you hear authorities like police say that it rarely happens, it sort of adds credence to maybe it is something significant," Florek said.
For some, like this surfer, the alert came as a complete surprise.
"I was actually i just been surfing maybe 20 minutes before I saw the warning and being from Tennessee, I had very little idea what was going on," Keith Chapman from Tennessee said.
A lot of relief washed over people here once that tsunami warning was lifted.
Much of the grounds at Davenport Beach Landing above the ocean are staying dry.
