From the Monterey Herald: Within hours after a deadly earthquake and tsunami slammed into Japan, local emergency response officials were preparing for an upsurge of water to hit the Monterey Bay area.

Because the upsurge in Monterey County was expected to be less than a yard high, the response was not regarded as an "inundation" and didn't require evacuation, but officials said area they could have completed one if needed.

By about 6 a.m., the county began using its Alert Monterey system to notify residents. Areas such as Pebble Beach, which have their own alert system, did their own notifications. Reade said it took more than an hour to notify all area residents.

Monterey city emergency officials, operating out of the emergency operations center behind Fire Station No. 1, sent out public-works staff members along with police and fire to help clear and close beaches.

Monterey officials also activated their community emergency response teams, a cadre of 200 volunteers who were posted along the city's shoreline to keep watch. Read the entire article here.