In 2016 Ocosta Elementary near Westport Washington became known for a rare design a school building with a tsunami vertical evacuation platform. In an emergency students practice going up instead of away.This episode looks at the small-town ritual of rehearsing for the ocean and why a school roof can become a modern ark.Sources include the Washington State Military Department and FEMA tsunami vertical evacuation guidance.

In the winter of 1997 to 1998 storms on the Oregon coast exposed the buried stumps of an ancient Sitka spruce forest near Neskowin. The beach suddenly looked like a graveyard of trees walking back out of the sand.This episode follows the modern moment when the ghost forest became visible again and why a strange beach sight can also be a warning about the Cascadia coast.Sources include Travel Oregon and public coastal geology references.

Gilchrist Oregon is often described as the state's last company town. In 1991 the mill and timberlands were sold layoffs followed and a town built around one industrial system entered its afterlife.This episode follows the modern ending of a company town not as distant pioneer history but as a 1990s story about work ownership and what remains when the company stops being the center.Sources include the Oregon Encyclopedia and Oregon Humanities.