NOAA/NWS Tsunami Activities Grants

This page updated 09/17/2018

Since passage of the Tsunami Warning, Education, and Research Act in 2017 (P.L. 115-25, Title V) and its predecessor legislation in 2007 (TWEA, P.L. 109-479 Title VIII), Congress has authorized and directed NOAA's National Weather Service to award grants to states, territories, (and new eligibility in 2017--local governments and Tribes) under the auspices of the National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program.

From federal fiscal year 2008 through 2018, NOAA has invested or approved investment for a total of 18 prime and 38 subaward recipients who work to fulfill the NTHMP mission "to mitigate the impact of tsunamis through public education, community response planning, accurate hazard assessment, and inform the warning process."

Safer U.S. Shores: NTHMP Grant Investment Activities Report summarizes the investments made by NOAA's National Weather Service to mitigate the threat of tsunamis through Tsunami Financial Assistance Grants to partners from FY08 through FY15.

NOAA/NWS Tsunami Activities Grants for FY18 Grant Cycle

NOAA's National Weather Service is pleased to announce $5,982,670 for projects and support to make coastal communities throughout the United States and its territories safer from tsunamis. ($5,999,690 was committed, but some grants were reduced during NOAA application review cycles when more information and details indicated lower costs due to more precise cost estimates, changes in some applicant's indirect cost rates, and recalculation of some grant requests after resolving mathematical errors. The difference between the amount committed and the amount provided through grant awards and transfers cannot be recovered if due to applicant information changes during final application review process.)

FY18 NOAA/NWS Tsunami Financial Assistance grants for the performance period from September 1, 2018, through August 31, 2019, have been awarded to 12 prime recipients and 13 subaward recipients to support these tasks:

Grant Recipient	Activity
Alaska Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Subawardee: University of Alaska/Fairbanks [UAF]
	[Prime]   Conduct community outreach visits and development of tsunami education materials.
	[Prime and UAF]   Travel for the Emergency Management member and Science member of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee to NTHMP meetings.
	[UAF]   Publish technical reports and Approximate Tsunami Hazard Zone Boundaries for eighteen communities in the Kodiak and Aleutian Islands, south-central and southeast Alaska.
	[Prime]   Conduct two-and-a-half day workshop that discusses the science of tsunamis, local threat, preparedness, warning and alerting procedures, as well as response and recovery for community leaders and local emergency managers.
	[UAF]   Publish and present the technical reports for two highly threatened communities: Atka and Adak
	[UAF]   Develop an ArcGIS map service and enhance the online interface to efficiently and effectively web-serve tsunami hazard mitigation products
	[UAF]   Estimate tsunami currents in six harbors of south-central Alaska.
	[UAF]  Develop and publicize pedestrian evacuation products for Sitka and Cordova.
	[Prime]   Installation of a warning siren system in Cordova.
	[NOAA / NCEI]   Develop tsunami DEMs for Akhiok, Karluck and Old Harbor, Alaska. (See IntraNOAA transfers below.)
American Samoa Department of Homeland Security Subawardee: University of Hawaii [UofH]
	[Prime]   Travel: two people to NTHMP meetings; tsunami training at PTWC; travel to outer islands for outreach and siren maintenance, PRiMO Conference, and siren training.
	[Prime]   Outreach, education, Tsunami blue-line project, tsunami 10th-year anniversary video, tsunami exercise.
	[Prime]   Tsunami Outreach & education - Tsunami Preparedness Week, evacuation drills and tsunami exercises, workshops and training.
	[UofH]   Tsunami mapping and modeling: 1) Offshore safe zones and in-harbor hazard maps of current speed; 2) surge elevation; and 3) drawdown for ranges of tsunami amplitude of small boat harbors in Auasi, Aunu'u, Ofu, and Tau.
	[Prime]   Siren system maintenance.
California Office of Emergency Services Subawardees: California Geological Survey [CGS] Humboldt State University [HSU] University of Southern California [USC]	[Prime, CGS & USC]   Tsunami Preparedness: Continue local outreach, workshop, training, exercise activities. Two state tsunami steering committee meetings. Develop guidance for tsunami hazard in planning. Develop new outreach materials. Support Tsunami Preparedness Week through subaward to USC/SCEC. Support scientific observation teams.
	[CGS]   Inundation and Evacuation Zone Improvements. Meetings and workshops with local communities to get feedback for maps in their jurisdictions; Review submarine landslide threats; conduct modeling and mapping for Lake Tahoe coastal communities.
	[Prime and CGS]   Update Tsunami Evacuation Response Playbooks statewide; Exercise the use of the Playbooks in cooperating counties and the NWS WFOs; Update FASTER calculation; update mapping.
	[Prime and HSU]  Ongoing TsunamiReady support to assist in filling roles supporting communities becoming TsunamiReady; Increase tsunami warning signs along coastal California; continue to explore TsunamiReady status for additional communities, harbors, and geographical areas; Continue support of Redwood Coast Tsunami Work Group; consider TsunamiReady recognition for selected harbors; pursue TsunamiReady Tier II recognition in selected high-risk communities in Northern California.
	[CGS]   Maritime planning and preparedness: develop maritime safety products; update outreach materials to address movement of watercraft in a tsunami emergency; martime response playbooks; conduct maritime education and outreach.
	[CGS]   Further develop real-time tsunami observation webcam network for California.
	[Prime and USC]   Support ongoing maintenance of tsunamizone.org, and on-line system available to catalog participation in tsunami activities, outreach, and exercises.
	[CGS]   Develop a tsunami source database to support goals of the NTHMP Mapping & Modeling Subcommittee.
	[Prime and CGS]   Participation by Emergency Management and Science Members of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee in NTHMP annual and subcommittee meetings.
Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands Subawardee: University of Hawaii [UofH]	[Prime]   Procure and install 3 fixed tsunami sirens for Saipan to fill gaps; conduct siren outreach/education on Tinian.
	[UofH]   conduct Neowave mapping and modeling for the Port of Saipan.
	[Prime]   conduct tsunami outreach and education; conduct tsunami exercises with key staff and stakeholders.
	[Prime]   Purchase and distribute tsunami education materials.
	[Prime]   Purchase and replace tsunami signage for the island of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota.
	[Prime]   Participation by Emergency Management Member of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee in NTHMP annual and Mitigation & Education Subcommittee meeting. Science member for CNMI is a NOAA employee and is ineligible for grant-funded travel.
East Coast Northeast States Emergency Consortium Subawardees: University of Delaware [UDEL] University of Rhode Island [URI]	[Prime, UDEL, URI] Develop baseline status report and gap analysis of tsunami hazard assessment and inundation mapping completed along the East Coast during 2010-2018.
	[Prime, UDEL, URI]   Develop new and comprehensive regional and local tsunami hazard products in formats that are most readable and usable for emergency managers.
	[Prime, UDEL, URI]   Develop 5-year strategy for the continued development of East Coast tsunami hazard inundation maps that address the needs of emergency managers.
	[UDEL, URI]   Develop landslide generated tsunami model guidance in support of Mapping and Modeling Subcommittee.
	[Prime, UDEL, URI]   Travel to participate in NTHMP meetings by emergency management and science members.
Guam Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Subawardee: University of Hawaii [UofH]	[Prime]   Procure and install 3 sirens to fill gaps along the southern and central coastal villages; maintain tsunami evacuation signage throughout the island.
	[UofH]   Mapping & modeling for Agat Bay on the west coast of Guam.
	[Prime]   Participate in PRiMO Conference and collaborate with CNMI.
	[Prime]   Print tsunami evacuation maps and conduct proactive outreach and education.
	[Prime]   Continue Tsunami Preparedness Outreach and Community Education Campaign; print 50,000 copies each of Guam tsunami brochure, evacuation wheels, Tsunami Ready cards and Tsunami Mikenna poster; prepare media kit.
	[Prime]   Participation by Emergency Management Member of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee and Tsunami Specialist in NTHMP annual and Mitigation & Education Subcommittee meeting. Science Member is a NOAA employee and is ineligible for grant-funded travel.
Gulf of Mexico Texas A&M University at Galveston	[Prime]   Two tsunami inundation maps for Gulf of Mexico along coasts of Louisiana and Texas.
	[Prime]   Submarine Landslide Characterization along the northern margin of the Yucatán Peninsula according to USGS.
	[Prime]   Temporal-low-order inundation maps for tsunami hazard areas (communities) where inundation studies have not yet been assigned/executed or where little bathymetric and elevation data exists.
	[Prime]   Characterization and identification of meteotsunami-physical parameters for the Gulf of Mexico with application to Panama City, Florida.
	[Prime]   Participation by Science Member and Emergency Management member of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee in NTHMP annual and MMS subcommittee meetings; participation in Powell Center tsunami source workshop for Science Member.
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Subawardees: University of Hawaii [UofH] Pacific Tsunami Museum [PTM] City and County of Honolulu [CCH]	[Prime & PTM]   Conduct proactive tsunami education and outreach for schools and support Pacific Tsunami Museum.
	[Prime]   Prepare broadcast messages for use on foreign language radio stations throughout Hawaii.
	[Prime & CCH]   Provide evacuation signage on the southern shore of Oahu, evacuation directional road signs, and safe/refuge area signs.
	[UofH]   Mapping & Modeling of Pearl Harbor. Develop new tsunami hazard products to assist the maritime community and meet Emergency Management and other NTHMP customer requirements.
	[PTM]   Support for Pacific Tsunami Museum in Hilo, Hawaii. This museum is the most active in conducting tsunami outreach and education for both residents and visitors of the state.
	[Prime and UofH]   Participation by Emergency Management and Science Members of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee in NTHMP annual and subcommittee meetings and Landslide Workshop.
Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries (DOGAMI) Subawardee: Oregon Office of Emergency Management [OEM]	[Prime and OEM]   Participation by Emergency Management and Science Members of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee in NTHMP annual and subcommittee meetings; participation by Science Member in Powell Center Cascadia Region Tsunami Source Workshop.
	[Prime and OEM]   Outreach and education. Support for DOGAMI to give talks and meet with community leaders; Maintenance of the Tsunami Clearinghouse website; Produce high resolution tsunami evacuation maps; participate in training at the National Tsunami Warning Center.
	[Prime and OEM]   Evacuation difficulty analysis of Nehalem Bay State Park and Manzanita; Tsunami evacuation wayfinding for up to 3 communities.
	[Prime]    HAZUS Risk and Exposure Analyses for Coastal Communities in Clatsop and Tillamook County.
	[OEM]   Report and Maritime Hazard Map Production for Coos Bay.
	[Prime]   Develop wave arrival map layers for Southern Oregon coast.
Puerto Rico Seismic Network (PRSN) Based at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez Subawardee: Puerto Rico Emergency Management Bureau (PREMB)	[Prime & PREMB]    State and Local TsunamiReady Program implementation and maintenance: 1) Support all communities whose TsunamiReady recognition is expiring within the grant year to renew; 2) Keep TsunamiReady inventories up to date; 3) Organize and participate in educational events throughout Puerto Rico.
	[Prime]    Continue the tsunami and currents impact study in the ports San Juan and Mayaguez harbors to update tsunami assessment using additional models; extend tsunami pedestrian evacuation analysis to two additional coastal communities; keep GIS database updated.
	[Prime & PREMB]   Participation by Science Member and Emergency Management Member of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee in NTHMP annual and subcommittee meetings.
	[Prime & PREMB]    Coordinate with CaribeWave 2019 exercise; assist with participation in monthly comms tests; maintain and deploy 10 new EMWIN systems for selected coastal municipalities.
	[Prime]   Outreach: Continue the education program on tsunamis through the partnership with the Puerto Rico Broadcasters Association.
	[Prime]   Conduct two-day tsunami workshop for local officials; participate in Powell Center tsunami sources workshop for Caribbean region.
U.S. Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA)	[Prime]    Project supervision and inter-island travel for Tsunami Coordinator.
	[Prime]    Airtime for tsunami safety PSAs across radio and television in both English and Spanish.
	[Prime]    Participation by Emergency Management and Science Members of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee in NTHMP annual and subcommittee meetings.
	[Prime]    Reproduction of educational/outreach materials and supplies.
	[Prime]    Printing and distribution of additional USVI's Children Tsunami Book
State of Washington Division of Emergency Management Subawardee: Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Subawardee: University of Washington (UW)	[Prime]   Tsunami warning siren support: satellite time; licensing fee; parts; travel for maintenance; support staff time.
	[Prime]   Install new tsunami evacuation and/or hazard zone signs in tsunami threatened communities and replace signs that have been damaged or stolen.
	[Prime]   Conduct education and outreach in collaboration with federal, state, tribal and local partners along the outer coast and the strait of Juan De Fuca communities.
	[Prime & DNR]   Participation by Emergency Management and Science Members of the NTHMP Coordinating Committee in NTHMP annual and subcommittee meetings.
	[DNR]   Tsunami animation upgrade and online viewer.
	[DNR]   Pedestrian evacuation modeling.
	[UW]   Tsunami Hazard Assessment (THA) modeling study of central/northern outer coast.
	[Prime]   Multi-state social science project focused on analyzing evacuation products and their effectiveness.
	[DNR]   Continue production of bi-monthly TsuInfo Alert newsletter.
	[NOAA / PMEL]   Tsunami Hazard Assessment modeling study (See IntraNOAA transfers below.)
Intra-NOAA Transfers to support NTHMP Activities NOAA entities may not bill states for services paid by grant funds. $425,133 in intra-NOAA transfers cover costs to NOAA entities for NTHMP partner support listed to the right.	[PMEL]   Conduct a tsunami hazard assessment (THA) modeling study of an area on the outer coast of WA State covering the region between 48.075N and 47.750N. The area extends from approximately Yellow Banks Campground, in the proximity of Ozette Lake in Calallan County to the mouth of the Hoh River in Jefferson County and will include the community of LaPush, WA. Work to be performed by NOAA's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL) to support the State of Washington.
	[NCEI]   Develop tsunami DEMs for Akhiok, Karluck and Old Harbor, Alaska. Work to be performed by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) on behalf of the State of Alaska.
	[NCEI]   Four Digital Elevation Models determined by NTHMP's Mapping and Modeling Subcommittee as priorities to be developed by NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) on behalf of NTHMP Mapping & Modeling Subcommittee priorities.
More Information For questions on activities listed above, please contact the respective Principal Investigators, noted here. For general information about NOAA/NWS Tsunami Financial Assistance Grants, contact: Rocky Lopes NTHMP Program Administrator NOAA/National Weather Service, Tsunami Program 1325 East West Highway, MS AFS26 Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301) 427-9380 nws.tsunamigrants@noaa.gov