The difference in lives saved between tsunamis that hit Crescent City, California in 1964 and 2011 was an early detection and warning system. Now it's up to Congress to save the $12 million system from the proposed cuts in Trump's budget.
Rong-Gong Lin II reports on the fate of a tsunami detection system completed in 2008 and credited with giving hours of warning when a tsunami hit the California coast in 2011.
"President Trump’s proposed budget for the next fiscal year would end funding to operate the network, which would eventually shut it down," according to Lin. The article includes a lot more detail about how the system works, with its network of surface buoys, anchored sensors, satellites, and terrestrial warning centers.
As Planetizen documented in an article earlier this week, the House Appropriations Committee has rolled out bills recently that include funding for programs and initiatives targeted for cuts by the Trump Administration's draft budget. Neither Lin's article nor a follow-up article in the North Coast Journal had information about whether the House Appropriations Committee would act to save the system.
Read the full story: Trump's budget would kill a crucial piece of a global tsunami warning system, sparking alarm in California and beyond
Caltrans Plans $2 Billion Tunnel to Save Crumbling Coastal Highway
A roadway connecting Eureka and Crescent City is a lifeline for local residents, but its future is uncertain as rock slides force repeated closures.
Washington State Requests Federal Funding for Tsunami Preparedness
The state’s Department of Natural Resources says it needs continued funding to map coastal areas at risk for tsunami impacts and prepare mitigation and evacuation plans.
Tsunami Defenses a Tough Sell in the Pacific Northwest
The experience of communities and school districts attempting to build elevated structures for residents to wait out the high water of a tsunami, an inevitable threat in the Pacific Northwest, has been challenging and impossible to differing degrees.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Amtrak, CN end decades-long dispute with eight-year agreement
The new operating agreement establishes an updated framework for the companies to work together, including processes to resolve disputes.
Northwest rail fans eager for Sept. 30 debut of Amtrak’s Airo fleet
Get ready for that new train smell and more seats. But they won’t go faster or run more frequently on the Cascades route in Washington and Oregon.
Brightline Florida files for bankruptcy
The transit company is over $5 billion in debt.
St. Louis Metro to test if single-car trains can reduce operating costs, maintain rider satisfaction
The pilot program will run from October to spring 2027, and begin with one single-car train operating on Metrolink’s Red and Blue lines.
Pennsylvania is building data centers in abandoned mines
Housing data centers in mines provides an alternative to destroying local forests and may spare residents from data centers’ noise and air pollution.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Thousand Oaks
City of Wisconsin Rapids
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello