Westport gets birdseye view of tsunami tower plans
Published 1:30 am Monday, June 1, 2026
Last Thursday evening, Westport Mayor Ed Welter and the engineering and design team behind the city’s proposed tsunami tower held an open house at Ocosta Elementary School. Residents were afforded the opportunity to view renderings of and learn about the science behind the project.
Ocosta Elementary School is the site of the first tsunami tower constructed in North America, with another in Tokeland. Tsunami towers have been proposed for the Ocean Shores area as well.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) grant program has been in a constant state of flux since April of last year, however, the Westport project is nearly set to move on to the construction phase. In 2018, Westport secured a planning grant from FEMA to draft tower design renderings and prepare a grant application and was awarded a $16.7 million grant in November 2023. The project entered into its design phase in 2020. Construction cost is estimated at $11.4 million. The grant stipulates that the project must be completed no later than Aug. 31, 2027.
During the 90-minute presentation, open house attendees learned about the history of tsunami towers, their effectiveness, tsunami preparedness and computer modeling, the Cascadia Subduction Zone and the earthquake risks it poses, the design features of the Westport tsunami tower project and the construction schedule.
Maximilian Dixon, the Hazards and Outreach Program Supervisor for the Washington State Military Department’s Emergency Management Division, led the presentation, Cale Ash spoke on behalf of Degenkolb Engineers and the design team, Noah Cochran of Consertus outlined the project timeline, while Dr. Harry Carthum represented the Westport Tsunami Safety Committee.
Hannah Cleverly, the Deputy Director for Grays Harbor County Emergency Management, was on hand for the event. Cleverly says that the tsunami tower is critical for the safety of the residents of Westport and tourists.
“It’s huge. You have tourists that frequent all year round, the closest high ground and vertical evacuation structure is up here at Ocosta, so having a site down in the Marina district provides a fighting chance for people to survive when the large Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake occurs,” Cleverly said. “With the Westport area, you’re having wave arrival time within 10 to 15 minutes, if you’re down at the docks or you’re shopping, whatever it may be, down in the Marina district and that ground starts to shake, you head straight to the Vertical Evacuation Structure, which is going to be three minutes away, so you’re saving a bunch of lives down there.”
Cleverly said that the delays with the BRIC grant program have been frustrating for everyone involved in infrastructure projects that are counting on those funds.
“It’s been exhausting. The biggest thing when they first pulled the BRIC grant was they said the funds were being used as wasteful, and they were being used in a lot of other negative light. Us, as emergency managers, took very much offense to that because you’re looking at projects like this one, like the levee project, whatever it may be, it’s designed to save lives. Especially, Westport evacuation, its purpose is to save a life. It’s frustrating. We’re happy to say the BRIC grants have been released a little bit, they’ve released the new BRIC grants for 2025, and the city of Westport is leaning forward in the newest grant round and we’re looking forward to more projects to build that sustainability and safety for our communities.”
The evening concluded with a robust Q&A session and a tour of the Ocosta Elementary School tsunami tower. Construction on the Marina district tsunami tower is set to begin in early August.
