Tsunami waves also went throughout the Pacific as well. Nearly every country that touches the Pacific Ocean were under a tsunami warning.
Here in Hawaii, some of the waves hit the coasts. While it was never as severe as the tsunamis that hit Hilo in 1946 and 1961, it did damage some small boat harbors. The coastal areas of the Big Island and Maui got most of the damage, though the waves never went that far inland.
-----
It was a Thursday night (3/10/2011) at around 8:45 pm that I got a call from a former co-worker. She called about reports of tsunamis on the Pacific Ocean that might head toward Hawaii. The sirens didn't come on yet. I turned on the radio, they were playing music as usual, so I turned it off! I'll just wait until 10pm local TV news to see if there's anything major.
Just when the 10pm news went on, the sirens made their noise.
That same co-worker called again, and she was in total panic.
She was originally from Chicago, lived in Hawaii a few years ago, moved back to Chicago and recently moved back to Hawaii, now living in the building next to mines.
She was like "what should I do". I told her "just go up the hills". She didn't want to go alone! She was super-freaking out! I just told her "don't wait for me, just go!" She was still expressing fears, so I just told her "I'm going to hang up".
Now, some of you might think I was being "cold-hearted" or whatevers. But this is not the time for me to be on the phone. It was time for me to pack a few of my belongings, duct tape whatever I'm leaving behind, and double-check on everything. To continue being on the phone will only delay things. In fact, to continue to be on the phone would put my life at risk, so I hung up!
I didn't call my friends or relatives after the first siren! Why should I? If I did, I would only be wasting their time! I would've been just interrupting their disaster preparedness actions. If they're able-body adults, they should know what to do without me calling them! Plus, if they got kids, disabled or elderly people living with them, they shouldn't be interrupted by me calling them after a siren!
Anyways, I pack up my backpack and left my building to walk up the hill to UH-Manoa. That lady who called was right outside the building she lived in. Again, more panic from her. She kept worrying, asking questions like "do you know where you going?", and I reminded her that I lived in the area for about 8 years, plus I was a student at UH for 5.5 years, so I course I know where I'm going.
She was also worried about walking alone late at night! I know the cliches, "there is danger for women walking alone at night". But reality is men are likely to be victims of murder, robbery, assaults and other violent crimes. The news media distorts the issue everytime they report a woman getting kidnapped or raped outside at night! While I would never want a woman to go through that, that doesn't erase the fact that the overwhelming majority of crimes are male-on-male violence!
I'm also thinking if this was a 3rd world country, people are so used to the risk of violence, that if there's a tsunami warning, even most women would just go up the hills even if there were risk of getting attacked along the way. You don't have time to over-analyze your fears in an emergency!
Anyways, we went up to UH-Manoa. Again, that lady freaked out about sitting on dirty benches there. She admits she's not an outdoors person. And again, I'm thinking that lady needs to chill! We're escaping a tsunami and she's worried about some mildly dirty stuff on the bench?
We later went to Sinclair Library (which is usually open 24 hours during weekdays), checked the internet, sat on the 2nd floor lanai, and watched news reports from someone else's laptop. Sirens kept going on every so often!
My brother called hours AFTER the 1st siren. This was fine, since at that point, we were out of harm's way.
At around 3:30, while watching the news report from another person's laptop, we saw the waves hitting Diamond Head. We could see the reef being exposed, which was a sign that the waves are about to come back with greater force. But that was about it. The news reports were mostly focused on Oahu & Kauai, and didn't show anything from Big Island or Maui which got more damage.
Anyways, the library shut down, and we all went to Campus Center. They had a big-screen TV with more news reports showing. The Campus Center staff was even nice enough to offer cookies and coffee.
At around 7:30 am, the tsunami warning was downgraded to an advisory. It was obvious to everyone that the storm was over, but they called it an advisory just in case.
I just went home and sleep after that!
---
Back to that women I was with that, when I described her panic state of mind, I do NOT intend to humiliate her in any way or form.
However, I bring that issue up because I want to use that as an educational example of what not to do!
When there's a tsunami warning, you shouldn't be calling your friends in a panic mode. You're only interrupting their disaster preparedness action.
When there's a tsunami warning, look for a hill, and GO THERE! Don't wait for your friends! Don't call people in a panic mode! JUST GO!
Even if you don't know the area that well, just look for higher ground and JUST GO THERE!
If you got kids, or some disabled or elderly people under your care, DO NOT show a "panic mentality". You are supposed to be an example of calm leadership!
While you don't want to be those morons who head for the oceans in a tsunami warning, you don't want to be an overly emotional person who gets paralyzed by fear.
Your goal has to become someone with Confident Awareness. Aware of the dangers, but confident enough to take action without getting overly emotional.
That is NOT easy for some people! It is easier said than done!
I admit I was at times over-emotional as a kid. But I'm not a kid anymore!
Being person with Confident Awareness is someone all adults shall strive to be! That's not the easiest thing to do! But those who have Confident Awareness usually get things done properly in an emergency, and are usually someone who can earn the respect of others!
That woman is a very nice person. I just hope she develops some Confident Awareness soon!
