June 5, 2026 • 7 mins
Flagler County is on the verge of becoming the second Florida county certified as Tsunami Ready by the National Weather Service. While virtually the whole state is considered Storm Ready, officials say there's a non-zero chance that an earthquake in places as far away as the Canary Islands could send a wall of water toward Florida. In addition to awareness, the tsunami-ready designation has other advantages, including the potential to lower flood insurance rates. We speak with Flagler County's emergency management director, Jonathan Lord.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Gordon Bird Beyond the News. Of course, we're rendering hurricane season,
and the National Weather Service is certifying cities and counties
as storm ready, and most places, the overwhelming majority of
places in Florida are certified that way. But you may
not know that the National Weather Service also certifies communities
as tsunami ready. That's not something we think about all
(00:23):
the time on the Atlantic or Gulf coasts of Florida,
but there are actually some areas of the state that
are designated tsunami ready by the National Weather Service. And
the latest is about to become tsunami ready is Flagler
County on our Atlantic coast. We're speaking with Flagler County
Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord about why it's important for
(00:45):
his county and locations in coastal Florida to be tsunami ready.
Jonathan Lord, welcome to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Now, looking at the list from the National Weather Service,
Flagler would become the second county in the state to
be tsunami ready. Indian River County already is Indian Harbor
Beach in Brevard County is as well as one of
the naval facilities in Jacksonville, and a college in Pensacola. Now,
we're not a region known for earthquakes. I'm sure there's
(01:17):
a non zero chance of a tsunami happening in Florida
that would affect Florida rather, but why is it important
for an area in Florida to be tsunami ready?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
So I think the best way to put it is
a low likelihood event, but low does not mean no.
But it is a potentially high impact event for US,
particularly on the Atlantic coast.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
But I'm assuming the Gulf Coast has very similar risks too,
so particularly for US.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
The areas where earthquakes could happen that would cause some
kind of risk to us actually include all the way
across off of the coast of Africa, the Canary Islands,
as well as up in the mid Atlantic northeast US.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
And or the Caribbean.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So those three areas do have fault homes that could
create the right earthquake that could cause a tsunami to
travel our way.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
The plus is none of those are.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Immediately local to us, so we would have hours, most
likely hours of notice to effectuate any emergency actions.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
And yes, it is as you point out, it is
possible for tsunamis to travel great distances across the ocean.
Of course, there are a number of incidents of that
involved with the Pacific. There was one that traveled all
the way to Japan after an earthquake off of Washington
centuries ago. But what's involved with getting a community tsunami
(02:40):
ready and how is it the same? How is it
different from getting ready for a hurricane.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I think it is very similar, with the big exception
being the awareness that it is a risk to our community.
I think everyone in Florida assumes hurricanes are risk. There's
not a millimeter of the state of Florida that is
not a risk for hurricanes. But every coastal county in
Florida has some level of risk to tsunamis as well,
just because of what we talked about earlier. So, but
(03:08):
for getting ready, one of our main things is really
just educating the public that we're.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Not immune to this kind of risk.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
And then the next step was walking through and we
had to demonstrate this to the Weather Service to get
the designation in the first place.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Is walking through.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
If we were to receive that alert from Noah in
the National Weather Service, what would we do next? And
for us it would be understanding the risk, meaning what
the size of the wave caused by the tsunami would be,
and understanding where that water may go depend I mean,
every event is different, just like storm surgeon a hurricane.
Every hurricane is different and how it creates the storm
surgeon the areas at risk tsunami is the same kind
(03:46):
of scenario. Where that water may go and how high
or how far inland it may go.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Is going to vary event to event. But we took
the data that that Noah and the Weather Service has
to understand where.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
That water could go, and then we updated our existing
emergency plans and education programs to advise the public of
that risk. And then on the emergency planning side, how
we would message the public. And we would message the
public in the same way that we do for a
hurricane or any other severe weather or disaster events. We
(04:17):
do some of the exact same tools we use for
that so that that doesn't really change, But then we
also added some new things in there that we don't
we do for other hazards, such as immediately alerting along
the beach, so using lifeguards and public safety personnel to
actually run up and down the beach We actually have
a helicopter here in the county of the county owns
that we for the fire service that would go up
(04:38):
and do announcing along the beach as long as weather
conditions we were safe enough for them to do so.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
So we have all of that.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
We already have evacuation routes established because of hurricanes and
storm search, so those routes don't change.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
So the big thing is really a change.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
In mindset for us as emergency managers but also as
our community, just to be aware that this is a
risk and that we would have to to react to
that should the weather sert to say there's one coming
our way.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And now that kind of leads into the question of
what people, beach residents, visitors need to do to get
themselves to be tsunami ready as far as recognizing the
signs of a potential tsunami like the water going way
out and exposing a lot of a lot of more
(05:24):
dry land. Or do we need to program our phones
or weather radios to get tsunami alerts? I mean, if
you don't put all alerts, do you need to select
tsunami to get an alert if a tsunami is coming.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, I think that's an excellent question. So I think
we do, and not just fig we're.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Kind of, but every community in Florida is a very
good job at encouraging folks to sign up for whatever
their local emergency notification system is, And for us, we
call that Alert Flagler, and a lot most counties in
Florida is a very similar terminology for it, and it
really is a statewide system that is broken down by counties, and.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Most counties use the same system.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
So for us, it's reminding people to sign up for
that system and getting and signing up and enabling those
alerts if you didn't have them turned on in the
first place, and making sure that you have multiple plays
or receive alre So not just these phone based alerting
systems like the Alert Flagler system, but if you do
have a national weather radio.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
You mentioned that it's not as common these days as
it used to.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Be, but it's something that we recommend people still still
purchase and set up. Is enabling that particular to come
across their weather radio as well, and then just being aware,
like you said, know the signs you see some water
retreating and if you do, report that to us immediately,
so we understand that hopefully we know it was coming
before you saw the water retreat and then what to do.
(06:40):
And what to do does not mean Ooh, I got
an alert. I want to go see this at the ocean.
It's the exact opposite. I need to get away from
the ocean. And we will tell you, based again, based
on that forecast that tsunami, we will tell our residents
and our visitors and our businesses.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
What that action might be.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
That action might be if it's a large enough one
to get entirely off the barrier island, or it just
might get the high high ground.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
But you know it's going to vary. But we wanted
we wanted to make sure our residents know that.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Fleigler County Emergency Management Director John Lord is just about
finishing the process of getting his county, making his county
the second in Florida to be tsunami ready. I believe
the County Commission is going to be officially recognizing that
in August. And uh yes, and that that is certainly
a milestone. And we thank you for taking the time
(07:29):
to explain why it's important to be tsunami aware in Florida,
Jonathan Lord, and we thank you for joining us on
beyond the news.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Gordon is a pleasure and thank you so much for
having me
Gordon Bird Beyond the News. Of course, we're rendering hurricane season,
and the National Weather Service is certifying cities and counties
as storm ready, and most places, the overwhelming majority of
places in Florida are certified that way. But you may
not know that the National Weather Service also certifies communities
as tsunami ready. That's not something we think about all
(00:23):
the time on the Atlantic or Gulf coasts of Florida,
but there are actually some areas of the state that
are designated tsunami ready by the National Weather Service. And
the latest is about to become tsunami ready is Flagler
County on our Atlantic coast. We're speaking with Flagler County
Emergency Management Director Jonathan Lord about why it's important for
(00:45):
his county and locations in coastal Florida to be tsunami ready.
Jonathan Lord, welcome to Beyond the News.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Now, looking at the list from the National Weather Service,
Flagler would become the second county in the state to
be tsunami ready. Indian River County already is Indian Harbor
Beach in Brevard County is as well as one of
the naval facilities in Jacksonville, and a college in Pensacola. Now,
we're not a region known for earthquakes. I'm sure there's
(01:17):
a non zero chance of a tsunami happening in Florida
that would affect Florida rather, but why is it important
for an area in Florida to be tsunami ready?
Speaker 3 (01:28):
So I think the best way to put it is
a low likelihood event, but low does not mean no.
But it is a potentially high impact event for US,
particularly on the Atlantic coast.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
But I'm assuming the Gulf Coast has very similar risks too,
so particularly for US.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
The areas where earthquakes could happen that would cause some
kind of risk to us actually include all the way
across off of the coast of Africa, the Canary Islands,
as well as up in the mid Atlantic northeast US.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
And or the Caribbean.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So those three areas do have fault homes that could
create the right earthquake that could cause a tsunami to
travel our way.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
The plus is none of those are.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Immediately local to us, so we would have hours, most
likely hours of notice to effectuate any emergency actions.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
And yes, it is as you point out, it is
possible for tsunamis to travel great distances across the ocean.
Of course, there are a number of incidents of that
involved with the Pacific. There was one that traveled all
the way to Japan after an earthquake off of Washington
centuries ago. But what's involved with getting a community tsunami
(02:40):
ready and how is it the same? How is it
different from getting ready for a hurricane.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
I think it is very similar, with the big exception
being the awareness that it is a risk to our community.
I think everyone in Florida assumes hurricanes are risk. There's
not a millimeter of the state of Florida that is
not a risk for hurricanes. But every coastal county in
Florida has some level of risk to tsunamis as well,
just because of what we talked about earlier. So, but
(03:08):
for getting ready, one of our main things is really
just educating the public that we're.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Not immune to this kind of risk.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
And then the next step was walking through and we
had to demonstrate this to the Weather Service to get
the designation in the first place.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Is walking through.
Speaker 3 (03:23):
If we were to receive that alert from Noah in
the National Weather Service, what would we do next? And
for us it would be understanding the risk, meaning what
the size of the wave caused by the tsunami would be,
and understanding where that water may go depend I mean,
every event is different, just like storm surgeon a hurricane.
Every hurricane is different and how it creates the storm
surgeon the areas at risk tsunami is the same kind
(03:46):
of scenario. Where that water may go and how high
or how far inland it may go.
Speaker 2 (03:50):
Is going to vary event to event. But we took
the data that that Noah and the Weather Service has
to understand where.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
That water could go, and then we updated our existing
emergency plans and education programs to advise the public of
that risk. And then on the emergency planning side, how
we would message the public. And we would message the
public in the same way that we do for a
hurricane or any other severe weather or disaster events. We
(04:17):
do some of the exact same tools we use for
that so that that doesn't really change, But then we
also added some new things in there that we don't
we do for other hazards, such as immediately alerting along
the beach, so using lifeguards and public safety personnel to
actually run up and down the beach We actually have
a helicopter here in the county of the county owns
that we for the fire service that would go up
(04:38):
and do announcing along the beach as long as weather
conditions we were safe enough for them to do so.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
So we have all of that.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
We already have evacuation routes established because of hurricanes and
storm search, so those routes don't change.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
So the big thing is really a change.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
In mindset for us as emergency managers but also as
our community, just to be aware that this is a
risk and that we would have to to react to
that should the weather sert to say there's one coming
our way.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
And now that kind of leads into the question of
what people, beach residents, visitors need to do to get
themselves to be tsunami ready as far as recognizing the
signs of a potential tsunami like the water going way
out and exposing a lot of a lot of more
(05:24):
dry land. Or do we need to program our phones
or weather radios to get tsunami alerts? I mean, if
you don't put all alerts, do you need to select
tsunami to get an alert if a tsunami is coming.
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Yeah, I think that's an excellent question. So I think
we do, and not just fig we're.
Speaker 3 (05:43):
Kind of, but every community in Florida is a very
good job at encouraging folks to sign up for whatever
their local emergency notification system is, And for us, we
call that Alert Flagler, and a lot most counties in
Florida is a very similar terminology for it, and it
really is a statewide system that is broken down by counties, and.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Most counties use the same system.
Speaker 3 (06:00):
So for us, it's reminding people to sign up for
that system and getting and signing up and enabling those
alerts if you didn't have them turned on in the
first place, and making sure that you have multiple plays
or receive alre So not just these phone based alerting
systems like the Alert Flagler system, but if you do
have a national weather radio.
Speaker 2 (06:17):
You mentioned that it's not as common these days as
it used to.
Speaker 3 (06:20):
Be, but it's something that we recommend people still still
purchase and set up. Is enabling that particular to come
across their weather radio as well, and then just being aware,
like you said, know the signs you see some water
retreating and if you do, report that to us immediately,
so we understand that hopefully we know it was coming
before you saw the water retreat and then what to do.
(06:40):
And what to do does not mean Ooh, I got
an alert. I want to go see this at the ocean.
It's the exact opposite. I need to get away from
the ocean. And we will tell you, based again, based
on that forecast that tsunami, we will tell our residents
and our visitors and our businesses.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
What that action might be.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
That action might be if it's a large enough one
to get entirely off the barrier island, or it just
might get the high high ground.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
But you know it's going to vary. But we wanted
we wanted to make sure our residents know that.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
Fleigler County Emergency Management Director John Lord is just about
finishing the process of getting his county, making his county
the second in Florida to be tsunami ready. I believe
the County Commission is going to be officially recognizing that
in August. And uh yes, and that that is certainly
a milestone. And we thank you for taking the time
(07:29):
to explain why it's important to be tsunami aware in Florida,
Jonathan Lord, and we thank you for joining us on
beyond the news.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Gordon is a pleasure and thank you so much for
having me
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