the day before...
Heard news of the earthquake in Chile just moments before heading off to bed last night. They said the tsunami would hit Hawai'i close to noon. This was the real deal, not a drill.
Set my alarm clock for 6:15am. Lots of time to assess the situation and review our emergency plan in the morning.
today...
Definitely no sleeping in this Saturday. Civil defense sirens sound before my alarm even has a chance to go off. Eyes fly open and I realize that hitting the snooze button would be useless. Eerie feeling to hear sirens before the sun has even come up.
Tsunami watch is officially a warning.
Flip on the tv. Grab our laptops. Plug in everything that needs to be charged. Confirm that we aren't in an evacuation zone. Take a shower...because I feel the need to be as clean as possible in case disaster strikes. Pray for the best, brace for the worst.
Reassure family on the mainland, "We're ok, we're safe. Just waiting."
Waiting, glued to the television.
Working, reading, surfing the internet...all with one eye still on the television.
More sirens on the hour, every hour. Last siren sounds a half hour before the tsunami is scheduled to make its grand appearance. No more sirens.
Aloha.
Live images show water receding and surging in Hilo Bay. Shoreline and reef are doing a disappearing act before our eyes. Now you see it, now you don't. Pixelated images of white water moving eastward, then westward.
Water levels rising and falling across the island chain. Smaller waves than anticipated. No destructive surges. Empty beaches, but curious onlookers on every perch, ledge, cliff hoping to witness...something.
No show today.
Indeed, we dodged a bullet.
