Tsunami Day

We had our first Tsunami warning on 3.10.2011 The earthquake in Japan triggered our first Tsunami watch at 8:45pm HST. Then a Tsunami warning around 9:15 pm.

I saw the warning break in on our usual TV show briefly and didn't think much of it. Chad was already dozing on the couch. I checked the evacuation zones online and confirmed that we weren't in one and we both decided to go to bed.

Then, I thought - ah, I'll stay up and watch the news, it started at 9:00. Just to be safe, and see what this is all about. That's when I saw this:



Is this coming our way? Now I was up, and the hours flew by. The news alerted us of the watch moving to a warning. The buoys were reading a 2 meter raise in the ocean levels. I had no idea what that meant but the news guys said is was significant.

They gave out all the details, when the wave was expected, 3:00 am in Kauai first, then working it's way through the island chain, ending with the big island at 4:00 am.

How big? How bad? We couldn't get a good answer on that, I got the impression that it's just not predictable at this point.

By now it's 11:00 pm, I've got extra water stocked up, we've got plenty of food. I've left word with family, work and facebook, knowing people will be wondering when they get up in the morning.

The news and civil defense said, stay home if you're not in an evacuation area.

Nothing else to do but wait now... Logically, I was sure we were going to be fine. Might as well get some sleep.



Yeah that didn't work. Imagine trying to sleep wondering if something like that is coming at you? So I made a deal with myself, I set the alarm for 3 am, figured if that was coming our way, an hour would give us enough time to get to higher ground. (Remember, we already are on high enough ground - but how do they know, what if they're wrong? - thoughts buzzing around in my mind when I try to sleep.) We could get to about 2500 ft in 30 minutes so I figured we could get to safety in an hour, even with traffic.

Then the sirens starting going off, every hour I think - letting people in the inundation zone know, get out of there! The rest of us just had to stay put and try not to worry.

I get up at 3 and it's the same thing as before, no Apocalypse, so I doze.... I woke up at 4:30am and the waves had started to come, and I was still dry!

I kept the news on as the waves came in over the next 4 hours or so. Slowly the warning was down graded to an advisory and life returned to a sleep-deprived normal.

So that's how I got through the tsunami.

Were we in danger? No. The coast in our neighborhood is 20 or so feet up from sea level to begin with, with no deep inlets. Then we're a few miles back, up hill, from the coast.

Is it impossible for a Tsunami to get us, no probably not. Do I worry? No, but I'm aware. The real danger to me is an earthquake on the island itself. There's PSA announcements on this all the time. I couldn't find a video but the basic message is - a. If you feel an earthquake, get to higher ground. b. If you see the water draw back, really far, again, head for the hills.

The whole thing is scary, gives me pause. But, in the end, I can either be afraid or not, it's a choice. I've decided against fear, protective as it can be. I'm more afraid of the certainty of missing out on life than I am of the possibility of something terrible happening. It's a personal choice, no right or wrong answers there.