Most Active Stories News & Music Contributors Tsunami debris
hits NW coast; poster tells how to deal with it Debris from last
year’s Japanese tsunami has in fact hit Northwest beaches,
according to new modeling by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, and Washington state is putting up
posters to help you decide what to do if you spot any. The new
model by NOAA shows where the debris is, not when the bulk of it
will hit the shores. But, as has been reported, some debris has
crossed the ocean. Last week, the Coast Guard sank a derelict
Japanese fishing vessel off the coast of Southeast Alaska. Also,
glass and plastic floats have turned up. Nevertheless, the new
model gave NOAA an understanding of where debris from the
tsunami may be located today, because modelers were able to
simulate how winds and ocean currents from the past year may
have moved items through the Pacific Ocean. The model below
(which you can expand and move around inside the window with
your mouse) shows where debris may be no