Lastnight we experienced our first tsunami emergency situation. An 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit the island of Honshu, Japan and sent a tsunami across the entire Pacific basin. I was sitting at home lastnight watching TV when the state of Hawaii was issued a "Tsunami Watch" around 9:30 p.m. (pending further information and updates). Daland was at work at the Macy's store in Waikiki, so luckily he was pretty close by. I texted him immediately to let him know the situation and began to wonder where we would go in case we had to evacuate. Only a few minutes later, we were upgraded to a tsunami warning, and the evacuation maps popped up on the news. Low and behold, our apartment was smack dab in the middle of an evacuation zone- highlighted in RED. Immediately I could feel my heart rate increase and a sense of panic start to take over as I had no idea where we were going to go. Fortunately, the waves were expected to reach Hawaii at 2:59 a.m. so we still had plenty of time to formulate a plan. I tried to remain calm as I called my Mom to let her know what was going on.
Even at this early stage of the game, it was very difficult trying to get calls out to people, as all the cell phone lines were being jammed with people trying to call family, friends, and loved ones. Everytime I tried to call Daland, the line would go dead. I tried to call one of my co-workers to see if we could drive up to her place in the hills, and the line would go dead. This was definitely one of the most unnerving aspects about the whole situation... feeling cut-off and not being able to get through to anyone. After I finally got through to my Mom and Daland, I immediately rushed out to get gas, as extensive gas station lines were already being showcased on the news. As I was rushing down the stairs, I saw some of our neighbors already leaving with their dogs and packed suitcases. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait too long for gas, since I went straight after the warning was issued, but I have to say... sitting in the line hearing the first of several tsunami warning sirens go off was quite surreal. Once I got back to the apartment with a full tank of gas, I started packing a suitcase with some clothes, essential items, expensive jewelry, passports, etc. I also packed up some food and water for Roxy as well. In the meantime, I was still waiting to hear back from Daland since he was still at work and not sure if/when he could leave. I was beginning to get very impatient: Ala Wai blvd (the street we live on that we can see right outside our windows) quickly became a parking lot of cars. I started to worry about how long it would take us to get out of Waikiki.
Finally, Daland called and said he was on his way home. By the time he walked in the door, I was pretty much all ready to leave and head for higher ground. I had gotten ahold of my co-worker and was graciously welcomed into her home for the night (much to my relief). We both took quick showers, closed up all the windows, and hoped that when we came back, everything would be intact. Aside from the Ala Wai, traffic wasn't too bad. Once we got out of Waikiki, things seemed to move along very smoothly. It took us about 15 minutes to drive up the hill to my co-worker's house, where other people were also camping out for the night. From this vantage point, we had a bird's eye view of downtown Honolulu, Waikiki, Diamond head, and the black ocean.
This is the view from where we were staying for the night. Just to show how high up and far away we were from the coast.
We had the TV on most of the night, closely following the countdown to the first tsunami waves which were scheduled to arrive at around 3 a.m. We watched the horizon fill with red and green lights as boats left their harbors for deeper waters. Being exhausted from all the adrenaline and excitmenet of the evening, I dozed in and out, with faint headlines and images drifting into my consciousness. Every hour I was startled awake by the piercing tsunami sirens that echoed across the entire island. Roxy was also very restless: you could tell she was a bit on edge. It's amazing how animals can sense these things. Finally, I woke up around 6 am with the TV still on to find out that Honolulu dodged a bullet. Residents were being allowed back into Waikiki, and Oahu suffered only minor damage.
WHEW!!!
Daland has the day off today, and my office building is closed as we are still under a tsunami "advisory" (which is a downgrade from "warning"). We were very happy to drive back into Waikiki and see our apartment building unscathed. We are still watching the news very closely as there is a possibility of additional waves; but for the most part, we are definitely out of the woods, and keeping Japan in our thoughts and prayers.
Thanks to all of you for keeping us in your thoughts, for all the calls and texts and facebook comments. It means a lot! We are very grateful that this ended up being a close call, and nothing more.
Much love,
Chelsey
