I had gone to bed early Thursday evening. You know, a rough day in the sun wears you out. The Sweetie had gone for a walk along the path that runs along the Kaanapali Beach south of Black Rock. He came back and woke me saying there had been a massive earthquake in Japan and there was a Tsunami Warning in effect for all of the Hawaiian Islands.
We turned on the news and watched images of the earthquake and the tsunami as it swept across the Japanese countryside. It was horrible.
Hotels in Hawaii are required to have contingency plans in the event of tsunamis (hurricanes too). For our hotel, folks could go to the 5th or 6th floors, the highest in the complex. Our room was on the 5th floor, so life should be good. We had a direct view of the ocean.
Hmmm. Wait a minute - we had a direct view of the ocean! There was less than 50 yards between us and an unknown quantity of water with 3 palm trees to slow it's progress. The only thing between us and the water were the 4 floors below us and the sliding glass door at 3:07 a.m. when it was forecast to hit. It was the sliding glass doors that gave us pause.
We watched the news some more and decided to move to one of the neighborhoods just to be safe. We packed our bags, bottled water, borrowed a couple of pillows from the hotel and drove to a residential neighborhood uphill from the hotel for the night. Not the most comfortable evening we've ever spent together. The pillows were the smartest thing I've done in awhile. There were other tourists parked along the same street.
The tsunami warning sirens sounded every hour. Not the most comforting sound. They sound for a long time. The emergency broadcast system went into effect on television and radio. Comfort stations - schools mostly, were opened for folks who lived in low lying areas. The Red Cross was careful not to call them shelters as there had been no disaster yet. Low lying roads and highways were closed as many run right along the coast. The Sweetie followed events on Twitter. I was sending text messages to one of my brothers and sister. They were texting back information they were seeing on the news.
The tsunami hit a little later than forecast. In Maui the sea rose 7 feet - but not in all areas. We didn't see anything because of our location and it was dark, dark, dark. The stars were magnificent. At 5 a.m. Friday morning we decided to head back to the hotel. The all-clear was posted around 8 a.m. Vacationing families were coming back to the hotel, throughout the morning, looking like zombies, carrying sleeping children and all of their belongings. I don't think many folks on the islands had a good nights sleep.
Friday morning was our scheduled checkout. Rumors were everywhere. The hotel staff, while very helpful was short staffed. The airport was closed. The airport was open. Highway 30 - really the only route out of west Maui - was closed. No, it was open. There were traffic jams in Kahului where the airport is located. Generally, a lot of confusion.
From our room we could see the high water mark in the sand. It was higher than usual, but not much higher. There were few people walking and jogging along the path that's usually crowded with people. There were only a few people on the beach. There was this one woman who had set up a beach chair facing the sun - with her back to the ocean. Wow. Really?
Happily we made it to the airport. We could where waves had brought sand over the highway. Maalaea Harbor was nearly empty as all of the boats had anchored out of the harbor. The water was brown and muddy far beyond the harbor. We heard there were more issues in the Kihea area with mud and sand on the roads. Happily, we made it back home safe and sound. Cold and rainy, but home.
I have not forgotten for a moment how fortunate we were. It turned out to largely be a non-event. I have second guessed our decision to leave the room, but the outcome could have been very different. Hindsight is 20/20. As more information and images come out of Japan, I count my blessings.
No comments:
Post a Comment