2 Years Ago- Evacuating for a Tsunami

An interesting blog post from 2 years ago today- one I wrote while we were living in Hawaii:

Friday, March 11, 2011

Tsunami Warnings- getting ready to evacuate- UPDATED FRI MORNING!

- 10:11 p.m. Thurs. March 10, 2011: The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has issued a Tsunami Warning for the Hawaiian Islands.

I decided to blog while I am waiting to evacuate our house. The Tsunami Warning was issued due to a large earthquake in Japan that may send a Tsunami to the Hawaiian Islands. I'm going to blog my way through this cause honestly.....I look forward to reading it after this is all over :) If my writing comes across as babble it's because I am going to keep this real and raw and not edit after I finish- So bear with and I will take you on this journey with me.

For those of you who have not been to visit us here in Hawaii we live right on the ocean- we can not see the ocean from our house because of a small knoll in the way but what we lack in sight we make up for in sound. It has been my chronic habit to sleep with a second source of noise because frankly, hearing the waves crashing freaks me out.

Our weather here tonight is partly cloudy and a bit breezy- We just filled our vehicle with gas (from jugs here at the ranch), the boys have packed a few things, and I am getting ready to grab what I consider the things I can not live without: make-up, chi flat iron, and Coco Chanel perfume........no just joking! I'm going to be bringing a bin of keep sakes that I store under my bed, Oklie, my boys, and some food/water. We have our cell phone's charging and our local news (by way of TV) buzzing.

Poor Matt has a horrible cold- took NyQuil and is snoring soundly by me- such peace from my man. I will be waking him up as it get's closer to midnight.

Our plan tonight is to evacuate about midnight (Hawaiian Standard Time) and head to the top of the hill (see This Blog Post). We will stay at the top of the hill, listening to the news by way of our car radio until we get the 'all clear'. A positive to going to the top of the hill is I may get to hang out with Kelly- she is one of the Trust Member's daughter-in-laws that is visiting the ranch right now who I've enjoyed getting to know. She will obviously have to evacuate also- so Kell- wanna hang at the top of the hill?

As I watch the news on the Tsunami that hit Japan my heart just aches for the people. May God Bless and keep the people who are affected by the earthquake and tsunami. Our news caster on KHNL can not get in touch with his father who lives in Japan- I can not even imagine. Our news is announcing to limit our calls on our cell phones because of heavy traffic on the lines. Last year when we had the Tsunami Warning I remember my cell phone not working (It would get a busy signal when trying to call out). The estimated arrival time of the first projected wave is 3:07 pm-

10:40 P.M. I am going to sign off for a bit- will post another blog update soon

P.S.- Just learned that Kauai, Hawaii will be seeing the Tsunami first.

Thank you so much Lord Jesus that you have this complete situation under control. I lift up every single person affected by this. I also ask for strength and wisdom for all of the people both here on Hawaii and in Japan. I ask for peace- no matter what happens. I trust in you and Love you Lord Jesus.
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11:55 p.m.-

Checking back in....in the last hour the news has reported that there were 3 small earthquakes on the Big Island (Hawaii)- the largest of the quakes being 4.5- They do not believe that it has anything to do with the earthquake in Japan. From what I could understand the earthquakes were centered in an area that see's frequent earthquake activity due to one of the volcano's.

Matt's still sleeping soundly so I think I'm going to wait to wake him up until 1:00 a.m.- the tsunami is still scheduled to hit at 3:07 a.m.- Our News Casters are assuring us that they believe a tsunami will be hitting (that it is not a 'maybe' anymore)- I think they say they believe from the data they are receiving from the buoy's reading out in the ocean the wave it will be about 2 Meters high or converted to feet- 6 ft.(http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/117783848.html)

I keep hearing that Waikiki Hotels are (Oahu) evacuating their guest's up- meaning that they are going to higher floors in the hotel instead of higher ground. That just settles weird with me. I think I would prefer higher ground as opposed to swirling water around me as I watch from a man made structure- I don't know, our situation, living so remote we do not even hear the tsunami sirens plus being right on the ocean may settle weird with the guests standing on the 6th floor of their hotel in Waikiki watching the tsunami swirl around them.

The News Caster that reported earlier he could not reach his father who lives in Japan (his father lives 50 Meters from where the earth quake happened) still can not reach his dad. He said that he is starting to get concerned. The good news is that his dad lives on high ground so probably was not affected by the tsunami- but may have been affected by the earthquake.

I will give one more post before we head up the hill- signing out for now
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March 11, 2011-12:45 a.m.

Thank you so much to all of our friends and family and our Trust Facilitator who have called both from the Main Land and from Hawaii to let us know about this Tsunami Warning- It is so so so so nice to know that you've got our backs :)
I will not have access to the internet again until after the projected Tsunami has hit Hawaii.
Of course I am optimistic that the tsunami will not cause damage- If, in fact, it does create more damage than projected please know (this is especially for our friends and family) that we will be on high ground and completely safe. Also, if for some reason you can not reach us via cell phone- We will call as soon as the lines open up and we get reception.
All the estimations for this Tsunami are the same- set to hit Kauai at 3:07 a.m.- If you are looking to follow what is going on I would recommend either the local Hawaiian station KGMB or The Star Advertiser

I'm bringing my computer with me and will continue this blog as things unfold- will post as soon as I have internet access again
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2:45 am

Sitting at the top of the hill (have been gabbing with Kelly!!)- Getting news in that at the Mid Way buoy the wave measured 6 ½ feet. The good news is that the wave was supposed to hit Guam before it hits us and it has not hit yet. People in Guam are a little nervous to resume normal life because of the strong aftershocks still hitting Japan.

Weather up here is nice. Still just light cloud covers but thank goodness no rain. We watched a cruise ship head out of port- fully lit. We are assuming that is was going out to sea to ride out the wave- I consider this equivalent to going ‘up’ in a hotel instead of going to higher ground- Thank you very much I will just stay here in port before I would step foot on a cruise ship during a tsunami (I don’t care if it is safer).

My boys have a full blown bed set up in the back of our car. Unfortunately they are not sleeping but instead annoying each other and fighting- boys- enough already!

I have a consistent mixture of flying bugs landing on my screen and even one smashed on it- gonna sign off until after the exact time the Tsunami is supposed to be hitting.

3:06 am

You should hear all the tsunami sirens going off as the time the wave is supposed to hit is so close. The radio is saying that the wave has not hit as of yet- the 3:07 am that it is supposed to hit (right at this minute) is only a estimate not an ‘actual’ time.

The biggest thing on my mind right now is the poor people in Japan who have had so much devastation- And from what I hear on the radio, Japan is having strong aftershocks-

3:40 am

It is weird that it is completely pitch black- not being able to see the water and relying on the radio and news cast’s that friends and family are watching. Right now, from our radio announcer, we are hearing the first wave has hit Kauai but it was not as big as what they had thought. My friend Deb just text and said that the news is saying the wave measured .5 Meters at Pearl Harbor- I am thinking that .5 Meters is about 2 feet? The radio is playing ‘red red wine you make me feel so fine…’ The bugs are still crawling all over my screen- and my calm husband is sleeping again……..Geez babe, how much Nyquil did you take J

6:25 am

The sun is not quite coming up but dawn is breaking……….LIGHT!!!! There is something about being able to see what’s going on- I can’t quite see down to the beach we live on and have not seen the news or been on the internet since 12:45 am- but from updates I have gotten from family and friends and from the constant updates that the local radio station is giving I understand that our island is still getting small tsunami waves- A gentleman called in about an hour ago and said that a wave came in and covered a parking lot-

I am not going to harp on the obvious but it’s been a long night. I am grateful I am not homeless having to sleep in my car cause this just sucks- My knees have been jammed into my steering wheel and I ended up putting my pillow on the ground and wrapping my feet in it cause I am freezing (it’s in the 60’s here).

Just getting in info that the Big Island just reported a fairly large wave hitting the island?

Will check back in with this post in awhile…Tired, feeling a bit sorry for myself, but feeling worse for Japan

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7:45 am

Just got down graded from a Tsunami Warning to a Tsunami Watch- going home

Ran by the beach (Bath tub) down here at the ranch- It's just weird- The waves can't seem to make up their mind what they want to do.

It's kind of unsettling being this close to the beach- The nice thing is I'm completely tired so I won't dwell on the weirdness for to long before I fall asleep. I took some pics that I will post later-

Thank you so much everyone for the prayers.

Goodnight

First Light 3/11/11- This is the view from where we evacuated to

This is one of the beaches on the ranch- If you look close you will see
how far out the water is- It receded this far in a matter of 60 sec, I
personally have never seen the tide out like this before.

This is the other side to the pic above

I shot this pic about a minute after shooting the original one above-
Show's how far the waves are coming in after receding

Showing the waves coming back in after receding- I noticed that the fire depart.
helicopter was checking out the waves as I was shooting this picture- They were to the right
so are not visible in this pic

Another beach here at the ranch- The water reached past the green
vegetation you can see on the right hand side. SO MUCH DEBRIS!

This pic was taken about an hour ago (1:20 Hawaiian Time) and shows
not only the debris washed up but also how far the tide is still out....is this normal??

A closer look at how far the tide is out.

The water went to the vegetation

It's hard to see in this pic but this area is usually a beach area- The water
has a current equivalent to a strong stream- The waves that washed in this morning went up past
the embankment and into the trees- My dog Oklie was completely fascinated with all the water.

Showing the 'strong stream' area from a different angle- If you notice the tree's in the
background, the water was up in those trees.

3/12/11- I did some checking to find out anymore information on the newscaster's dad that lives in Japan that could not be reached- I could not find anything on KHNL's website regarding it so I am assuming that he was able to get into contact with his dad after all. If I hear anything different than this I will make sure and post.