This from Burl Burlingame in Kailua, in the path of the tsunami:
Hmmmm … the newspaper hasn’t asked me to cover the tsunami, so I guess I’ll ride it out at home. We’re only about five feet above sea level, but we’re inland, so if it whacks Kailua, we likely won’t get any wave action but we might get flooded. Filling containers with water. Boiling eggs for when (not if) the power goes out. Getting stuff off the floor. Wondering and watching.
When the 1986 tsunami was imminent, the paper sent me to Ala Moana Beach Park. It was blocked off, but when I told the policeman I was press, he just smiled and told me to enjoy the beach. I went out on the beach, prepared in case the shorebreak started to recede to beat it. My car was left running and pointed away from shore. I stood on the sand for a long time and not much happened. When the time passed, I tried to leave and discovered that the police had bungled the Waikiki evacuation so badly that traffic was gridlocked. That became the story.
Well. I’ll file this note. And hope there will be updates …
9:44 — Guy on TV noted that folks should be careful because “THERE WILL BE NO ONE AVAILABLE TO SAVE YOU.”
9:45 — Stores are limiting SPAM sales to two cases — cases! — per customer.
9:46 — TV guy: “It’s not a wave! The entire ocean is moving ashore!”
9:50 — We’re relying on TV. Alas, the TV newsroom cutbacks are showing.
9:51 — I’m going outside and do some woodworking instead of sitting on my hands. But I’m enough of a journalist nerd to have already recharged my cameras.
11:00 — Boards I primered yesterday are sanded and put away, so the driveway is clear. Ladder to roof in place. Should I take a shower?
11:08 — Hilo is still standing.
11:14 — My daughter’s workplace at Kailua Beach Park is keeping its employees in place.
11:23 — Giant wasp invades Hilo! Oops, never mind. Regular-sized wasp on weather camera.
11:25 — TV guy refers to a swimmer in Hilo Bay: “What an idiot!”
11:35 — The water is trickling in and out on Hilo Bay. Like a quick tide.
11:45 — Beach in Hilo has disappeared.
11:52 — Will there be mail delivery today?
So he’s riding it out at home? I’m thinking he should head for Pali. Or maybe Diamond Head, if you think it’s tall enough — and not the crater, either. That little concrete pillbox from WWII (is it still there?) on the tip of the highest part of the rim should be an awesome vantage point.
But as I type this, time for moving to another position may have run out…
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Burl, is Ala Moana Beach Park the place we used to call “Tables?”
No, alas, Tables is now a storage area for unsold cars at Lagoon Drive on the ass-end of the airport runway. Ala Moana Beach Park is down town, actually right across from the big shopping center of the same name.