this is my first year in Hawaii. before we moved here, we kind of laughed at the thought of a tsunami. I think for me, it fit into that category of only happening to a friend of a friend, you know? not me.
with Japan's 8.9 earthquake yesterday, a tsunami warning was issued for Guam, Hawaii, and Thailand right away. I heard about it right after I put the kids to bed around 9ish, then got online to read the latest.
our local news, they kept showing scenes from Japan and the tsunami waves that have already hit. scary, to say the least. they were honest about it, explaining the who/what/where/when/how's of tsunami waves and knowing what was happening in Japan could very well happen in Hawaii.
they showed street cameras of the traffic; it was bumper to bumper, especially downtown Honolulu. the grocery store lines were loooooooong. the shelves of water and canned goods were empty. the locals seemed to be stocking up, preparing for the worst ... while of course everyone was hoping for the best.
some areas did get evacuated, the areas that are closest to sea level. the goal of course is to get to higher ground, but still, ITS AN ISLAND. there is only so far you can go. I couldn't help but get scenes of Deep Impact in my mind. remember THAT wave?! the mountains here do go pretty high, its just a matter of getting there.
we live about 2 miles from shore, uphill, in a valley. we are also on the second floor of a condo building; we were pretty confident we'd be ok here. in case the power were to go out, we filled everything in our house with water that we could ... and after we heard about some fighting in the street, hubby loaded his gun. just in case.
it was estimated that IF there were to be tsunami waves in Hawaii, the 1st one would arrive at 3am. you think I slept?! I did fall asleep, but then did one of those instant, dramatic jumps out of bed in 1/2 a second things. it was one of those funny, but not-so-funny moments. I watched the news from 3-4am ... with reports of basically nothing. SAY WHAT?!
since last night, there have been reports of some flooding (from 2ft waves) and very minor damage.
so it was a big freak out for nothing. it doesn't make sense to me, but somehow Hawaii was spared. I know Kuai'i got much more flooding than Oahu did, still, no lives taken, no lost homes or businesses. thank God.
so that's my story. I survived the tsunami ... can I get a t-shirt?
not to make light of the tragedy of course. my heart breaks for Japan.
have you ever been in an earthquake? I have, but no more than 20 seconds or so. its a freaky experience. in Japan, that 8.9 lasted 5 whole minutes!
I'm sure people will begin (if not already) to organize supplies to send over. if you'd like to help, I would suggest starting with your local Red Cross.
count your blessings ... and I guess lets all disregard my last post. can I please wash some dishes now?
with Japan's 8.9 earthquake yesterday, a tsunami warning was issued for Guam, Hawaii, and Thailand right away. I heard about it right after I put the kids to bed around 9ish, then got online to read the latest.
our local news, they kept showing scenes from Japan and the tsunami waves that have already hit. scary, to say the least. they were honest about it, explaining the who/what/where/when/how's of tsunami waves and knowing what was happening in Japan could very well happen in Hawaii.
they showed street cameras of the traffic; it was bumper to bumper, especially downtown Honolulu. the grocery store lines were loooooooong. the shelves of water and canned goods were empty. the locals seemed to be stocking up, preparing for the worst ... while of course everyone was hoping for the best.
we live about 2 miles from shore, uphill, in a valley. we are also on the second floor of a condo building; we were pretty confident we'd be ok here. in case the power were to go out, we filled everything in our house with water that we could ... and after we heard about some fighting in the street, hubby loaded his gun. just in case.
it was estimated that IF there were to be tsunami waves in Hawaii, the 1st one would arrive at 3am. you think I slept?! I did fall asleep, but then did one of those instant, dramatic jumps out of bed in 1/2 a second things. it was one of those funny, but not-so-funny moments. I watched the news from 3-4am ... with reports of basically nothing. SAY WHAT?!
since last night, there have been reports of some flooding (from 2ft waves) and very minor damage.
so it was a big freak out for nothing. it doesn't make sense to me, but somehow Hawaii was spared. I know Kuai'i got much more flooding than Oahu did, still, no lives taken, no lost homes or businesses. thank God.
so that's my story. I survived the tsunami ... can I get a t-shirt?
not to make light of the tragedy of course. my heart breaks for Japan.
have you ever been in an earthquake? I have, but no more than 20 seconds or so. its a freaky experience. in Japan, that 8.9 lasted 5 whole minutes!
I'm sure people will begin (if not already) to organize supplies to send over. if you'd like to help, I would suggest starting with your local Red Cross.
count your blessings ... and I guess lets all disregard my last post. can I please wash some dishes now?
