Tsunami

I’m glad to post this today. It was an iffy morning for all of us who live in Kihei and all other tsunami evacuation areas.

The commotion actually started the night before. The neighborhood was pretty restless, and by 4:00 a.m. the feral roosters were already crowing.

By 6:00 a.m. our phone lines were jammed with relatives calling to see if we knew about the possible tsunami, and Upcountry friends offering their hospitality to us who live near the ocean.

If it wasn’t for the news coverage on television (especially KHNL), we wouldn’t have known how and when to act-without being utterly surprised. This was the longest warning we have had for a near tsunami.

We watched the live video of Hilo Bay’s water surging in and out, waiting for the time to really  leave our house and head to higher ground. We decided earlier that we weren’t going to drive out of Kihei because of the heavy traffic.

Earlier in the morning, we drove our cars uphill, filled water jugs and our bathtub with fresh water, and remained glued to the television.

When the waters at Hilo Bay started to gurgle, I felt it was time to leave. I thought we were going to go on foot toward the upper highway, but my partner insisted we take his truck and drive on South Kihei Road to get to our friend’s house in the safe zone. I was never so nervous in my life, even though we had at least 20 minutes before the wave would hit Maui after the Big Island.

There were a few fools on the road and at the water’s edge, but everything else was shut down-stores, restaurants and traffic. It reminded me of 911 when we were insecure for good reasons.

I looked over to the ocean, and it was crystal blue and beautiful. Incredible day for the beach.

It was another hour before we could go home again.

Tsunamis are terrible things. I was a little girl in 1960 when Maui was hit hard.