PORTLAND (AP) - The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration has declared Lincoln City the first Oregon community to be prepared for a potential tsunami since disaster struck southeast Asia last December.

"The public must know how to react," said David L. Johnson, director of NOAA's National Weather Service and a retired Air Force general.

The government launched a program four years ago called "TsunamiReady" to help U.S. coastal cities prepare evacuation plans should an undersea earthquake trigger a massive tsunami like the one in the Indian Ocean that killed more than 170,000 people across Asia in December. Tens of thousands are missing and presumed dead.

"TsunamiReady arms communities with improved communication, education and safety skills needed to save lives and property," said Tyree Wilde, warning coordination meteorologist at the weather service office in Portland.

Readiness includes a 24-hour warning point and emergency operations center with multiple ways to alert the public to a tsunami threat.

Ocean Shore, Wash., became the first TsunamiReady community in 2001. Lincoln City boosts the list to 16 communities along the West Coast, Hawaii, and Alaska.

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