A tsunami detection system that has been instrumental in saving countless lives is under threat from President Donald Trump's proposed budget for the next fiscal year, which would end funding for the network and eventually shut it down, the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday.
In addition, Trump's budget would also reduce the number of tsunami warning centers from two to one, cut full-time employees from 40 to 15, and end $6 million in grants to states to fund emergency drills and the drawing of flood maps and evacuation plans in preparation for tsunamis.
The proposed cuts come as scientists are becoming more concerned about potential devastation from a huge West Coast tsunami. A 2013 Department of Conservation report found that a magnitude 9.1 earthquake off the Alaska coast could produce a tsunami flooding areas of California where some 92,000 people live.
The current $12 million system threatened with closure was completed in 2008 and provides warnings of floodwaters sent by distant earthquakes. Its creation was spurred by the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, which killed more than 235,000 people after they did not have an adequate tsunami warning network.
The Trump administration acknowledged in a document that that "tough choices" were made to cut funding in the plan, but said it was "necessary as we move toward a more efficient government that re-focuses on national security and core government functions."
Officials from across the West Coast have reacted with alarm to the possible cuts to the tsunami network, with Democratic Rep. Derek Kilmer from Washington calling it "an absolutely reckless proposal."
Kilmer, whose coastal district is at risk of a catastrophic tsunami, stressed that "These buoys are critical at keeping our coastal communities safe."
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