It’s December 5, 2024, 2nd period. The usual calm of Marshfield High School is interrupted by the sudden ding of cell phones. Rather than one or two, it’s every single device in every single backpack. Discreetly managing to check their devices, students erupt in a collective panic. The culprit: a tsunami warning. A 7.0 earthquake in Humboldt county, Calif., sparked the threat of a tsunami along Oregon’s coastline, issuing a stern warning to those that live in the surrounding area.
Students rushed to call their parents and extended family in fear they may lose their lives. Schools are trained to react to an earthquake and adjacent tsunami, but not a tsunami followed by a local earthquake. Chaos ensued.
By the time 11a.m. rolled around, the parking lots were flooded with anxious parents desperate to find their kids and get them home safe. The streets were no safer, filled with families packing up their pets, belongings, and sense of self in search of higher ground. Some were driving through town, blasting through red lights and causing dangerous conditions.
For students who left school, a five-minute drive home became 10-20 minutes or longer. Students who were unable to leave campus remained in their 2nd period class, watching elementary school kids and junior high students fill the campus with confusion.
“I was confused at first,” said MHS sophomore Arlo Colm. “But once I realized what was going on everyone around me began to freak out.”
Although MHS is considered a tsunami evacuation area as it’s on high ground, parents were frantic to get reunited with their children. They feared being separated from them, should roads flood in between. This meant that parents were demanding their kids faster than the school could release them.
By the time the warning was called off, the damage was already done. Most students had already gone home for the day. Teachers were preoccupied with their own families, as well.
“My teacher was worried about her own kids,” said Orla McCarthy, “so she didn’t really help to console our class.”
Because this was a situation that was not prepared for, the overall sense of alarm increased in coastal areas. Many schools in the region canceled school for the remainder of the day. While MHS did remain open and continued classes, attendance was so poor by then that most teachers couldn’t effectively continue with planned lessons. In addition, the schools that evacuated should have stayed in place; Madison school is a tsunami safety area, and high enough to remain safe in a tsunami.