Tsunami Saturday 02.27.10

Many of you have been asking what it was like being on the island when a Tsunami was supposed to hit. Basically, it was a very stressful day that began at 5:00 in the morning and didn't end, at least for me, until midnight. Here's a detailed account of what the Keizer's day looked like in Hawaii.

8:00 p.m. the night before: 8.8 earthquake rocked Chile, and Hawaii was put on Tsunami Watch. Pete and I headed over to Auntie Marlene's home to housesit and dogsit Murphy for a week, not thinking a thing about it.

5:00 a.m. on February 27: Woke up to the phone ringing- Pete answered, and I shot up in bed thinking that the watch had been upgraded to a warning. It was just Auntie Marlene, asking us to pack some stuff for her family and Murphy if the watch was indeed upgraded. Relief washed over us both that it wasn't bad news. As soon as Pete hung up the phone, it rang again- this time, it was Auntie Terri, informing us of the news we didn't want to hear- Oahu was under a Tsunami Warning. The sirens would start going off at 6 a.m. We made a game plan to pack what we wanted to take and be at Auntie Terri's by 6:00. Pete and I rushed around, making phone calls to our parents & best friends, and packing the things we wanted to take to higher ground. The house we were sitting is across the street from the beach- not an ideal location when you're under a Tsunami warning! We had a running joke that of course the house would experience some kind of devastation as soon as it was under our care!

5:45 a.m.- Rain started to pour as we packed the van with our valuables- Murphy's food, laptops, boxes of food and water for 5-7 days, some clothing and other random valuables. I was surprised at how much we were willing to leave behind. I thought I would try to stuff more in the van but at that moment, it really didn't matter. I just wanted to get out of there! Our goal was to leave before the sirens went off at 6:00 so we could fill up our gas tank before lines got too long. It was a good thing we did- the gas station already had cars lined up, and traffic was starting to back up. We heard a few hours later that most of the gas stations on the island had altogether run out of gas within a few hours. We both knew that in a time of emergency, we would need a full tank. Luckily, we went away from the traffic on our way from the gas station to Auntie Terri's, and made it there in no time. I noticed that everyone was on their cell phones while driving- which is completely illegal in Hawaii! Many times, when I tried calling a friend, I would get a recording that said all circuits were busy. When I looked around at the traffic backing up, I thought of all the movies that show this very same scene- and then the volcano explodes, or the tidal wave comes, and everyone sitting in that traffic gets wiped out. I didn't want that to be me!

6:00 a.m.-7:00 a.m. We arrived at Aunti Terri's and helped them make sandwiches, pack belongings, and move valuables from downstairs to the loft upstairs. Their home across the street from the beach as well, and would be affected if a large tsunami did occur. We tried to prepare the best we could. Throughout this time, we were keeping our parents & close friends updated. Everywhere we looked, people were packing their cars and evacuating to higher ground.

7:00 a.m.- The sunrise was stunning, which was such a contrast to what we were all feeling. How could a natural disaster possibly occur on such a beautiful morning? I was convinced it couldn't. Jessica, Pete, and I decided to walk the short distance to the beach to observe the tide. On our way there, we witnessed fire trucks visiting beach neighborhoods. On loudspeakers, they were announcing, "Leave immediately. Leave immediately. Get to higher ground as soon as possible." They were visiting every beach neighborhood in case people didn't know the danger they were in. Eventually, they were going to start blocking off all roads that were close to the beach. Nevertheless, we knew we still had a few hours leeway, so we made our way down the beachwalk. The tide was pretty far out, but not more than usual for that time of morning. We took some pictures, and Pete made sure to tell every runner he saw on the beach that we were under a tsunami warning. You never know who may or may not have heard the news.

8:00 a.m.- Originally, we had planned to evacuate to a cemetary that was on higher ground. We would wait the day out there, and hopefully return home that evening if nothing happened. The plans changed when Auntie Joanne thought of an Uncle's home in Kaneohe, which is located right on the other side of the hill from Kailua. The home is for sale, and not currently being used, and it's on the side of a mountain overlooking Kaneohe Bay. We decided to go there instead- it would be much more accomodating to our big gang of people. We finished packing and kept updated on the news for the next hour. They weren't predicting the size of the wave, only that it would happen, and to evacuate immediately. I tried convincing Pete to hike up to the "Pillboxes" (a few cement buildings on top of a mountain overlooking the ocean- used in World War II) so we could see the Tsunami hit from there, but we were talked out of our idea by some folks with good sense- if a major wave did hit, we would be stranded on top of the mountain with very few supplies. Who knew when the water would receed?

9:00 a.m.- We caravaned from Kailua to the home in Kaneohe. On the way there, we passed a huge group of locals who evacuated to a high spot on the hill overlooking Kailua. They had set up tents and barbeque's and all their cars were scattered everywhere on the grassy area between the two major roads.

9:00-11:00 a.m. We all felt 100% safe on top of the mountain. We waited impatiently for some kind of news. The wave was supposed to hit Hilo first, which is on the big island of Hawaii. A few of us started drooping from getting up so early, and a few of us even passed out on the floor of our Uncle's home. Around 11:00, Pete, Jessica, and I trooped down the street with some snacks, games, and a blanket. We spread the blanket out in the middle of the street, which had an absolutely terrific view of the bay. The street was lined with cars of other people who needed high ground, and we even met two conservation officers who came up for the view. They had been working all morning on evacuating beachfront homes, and now their duties were done. There was nothing to do but wait.

11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. The first wave to hit Hilo was long- and I mean LONG- overdue. Jessica joked that the tsunami was on "Hawaii time." (Hawaii time means late on the mainland!) It was supposed to happen around 11:00 for Hilo and 11:15 for the island of Oahu. It was almost noon before a 3 foot wave crashed into Hilo...we were all very surprised and a little confused. Was that it? Or was it just the first in a series of waves? We heard that sometimes a few little ones hit and then a big one follows. Nothing bigger ever came. The same happened for Oahu. Waikiki in Honolulu was expected to get hit the hardest- nothing ever came. While we were all a million times thankful that the time had passed with no devastating waves, we were still tired from the stressful morning that began so early. We slowly streamed back into the house and were advised to wait it out for a few more hours just in case something bigger came. Pete wandered around the mountain trails and I passed out on the floor of a bedroom. I had to work at 4:00, despite the warnings that bombarded all of Oahu's coastal towns. You can tell that my restaurant is run by mainlanders. :)

2:00 p.m.- I was woken up abruptly to everyone packing everything for the second time that day. This time, we were packing to go home. Everyone was confident that no tsunami was coming- praise the Lord! It was such a strange feeling, though. It was a mix of relief and stress and exhaustion- everything we had spent the morning preparing for was all for nothing. Yes, I know it's better to be safe than sorry- but safe is apparently very exhausting. And now, as tired as I was, I had the duty of going to work from 4 to 11, on the busiest night of the week. I didn't know how that was going to work- but ironically, the day didn't get any less stressful for this Hawaiian girl. 5 minutes after arriving at the restaurant, the fire alarms went off in the whole complex for 45 minutes. Never mix stressed out & tired servers with a tsunami warning and then fire alarms- you will get some super cranky people! I had trouble hearing the rest of the night, not to mention all of the guests in the restaurant who were perturbed. It had been a long day for all of us.

It's hard to describe the mix of emotions we felt on this day and the day after. I keep reiterating how tired and stressed out we were- and maybe it was me more than others- but it's because it was the dominant feeling. I've been through thunderstorm warnings, ice storm warnings, tornado warnings and even tornado's that have come within half a mile of my home, but this kind of warning was new to me. I'm still feeling the effects of scrambling around for hours, trying to figure out what's important enough to salvage. If nothing else, it's a good reminder that nothing lasts- everything fades away at some point.

All in all, it was quite the experience. I never thought I'd live in a place that even had a chance of getting hit by a tsunami. That being said, I'm so thankful nothing bad came of it. The Lord really kept us safe and answered so many prayers. Thank you so much for all of your prayers, phone calls, and text messages- it really helped knowing there were so many people thinking of us. Hopefully you won't be hearing from us again too soon!