Towers planned on Washington coast as tsunami safe havens

Twenty-nine towers, parking structures and elevated berms may be built on the Washington coast as emergency sites where people could ride out a tsunami.

The "vertical elevation" sites would be able to withstand a 30-foot wave and would be available to residents and tourists with a 30-minute warning.

The Daily World reports Project Safe Haven is a joint effort of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the state Emergency Management Division. The University of Washington is helping run community meetings to decide where the towers would be placed.

Twenty locations are planned at Ocean Shores and nine in the Westport area.