Hawaii Tsunami 2010: We Survived And Lived To Tell About It

The phone rang at 5:30 in the morning on the first morning of our vacation. I stumbled to my cell and noticed that it was Mom Gold. I knew something had to be going on and it probably wasn't good, or she had forgotten that Hawaii was 2 hours behind Oregon time. I answered and Mom quickly asked if we knew that we were under a tsunami watch. She gave me the details that she knew and told us to turn on the local news and call her back when we knew more. It took a minute for the full impact of what she had said to hit. We could be in serious danger. I started to envision some of the footage I had seen from the tsunami in Thailand  and knew that we needed to get the facts first and then potentially get to higher ground. Not an ideal way to start a vacation! 

Live news broadcasts were available on every channel and we soon learned that indeed we were on a tsunami watch due to the massive 8.8 earthquake that had rocked Chile the day before. Not only were we on tsunami watch, the wave was due to hit the west side of the island first; right where we were staying. Because the tsunami wouldn't hit a land mass for miles before hitting Hawaii it could escalate in width and size very quickly, so if the wave was big enough it would wrap around the whole entire island and cause massive devastation. We learned that it was due to hit The Big Island first around 11:00, then it would head straight for Maui and arrive about 20 minutes later. Did you know that a tsunami wave travels at about the same speed as a jet? So about the same amount of time it would take to fly from one island to the next is about the same amount of time it would take for a tsunami wave to get to it's next land mass.Another interesting thing we learned is that tsunami waves are unpredictable. It could hit The Big Island as a 3 ft. wave and then either peter out by the time it hit Maui or gain in size and strength. This meant that all islands were in danger and that every coastal town and coastal resorts on every island had to be evacuated to higher ground. We heard on the news that some hotels were doing vertical evacuations, which meant that people were being moved onto the 3rd floors and above, but we had gotten no notification from our resort staff at all. I guess that's what happens when you stay at a small resort with few staff members. We also heard on the news that there were evacuation buses taking people to higher ground but we had no clue on how to find those. We decided that it was in our best interest to leave via our rental car and find higher ground on our own.

Because we had gotten early notification we were able to take the time to make a few phone calls to family to give them  the  newest updates. We so much appreciated all the calls of concern we got from both family and friends as well.  We also packed a small suitcase with a few articles of clothing, our toothbrushes and some deodorant. Everything else we would leave behind. We were so thankful we had stopped at Costco the night before to stock up on some food items, namely bread, peanut butter, jam and water bottles.  These would be good for our survival if it became necessary. It was somewhat hilarious to watch the news and see signs posted in grocery stores stating, "Only two cases of SPAM per customer please". Those Hawaiians sure love their SPAM and obviously some had been taking more than their fair share in their mad rush to stock up on the necessities of life. All stores had been hit with huge numbers of people trying to get what they needed to survive if the tsunami caused total devastation. It seemed to be that SPAM and water were at the top of most everyone's list. I was personally really happy that SPAM was not part of our survival plan.

As we were leaving we started talking to some people in the parking lot who had already been out on the main roads and turned around and came back to the resort because traffic was at a stand still and had been for hours. We were also informed that most main roads were going to be closing at 10:00 a.m. and nobody was going to be let through after it was closed. The last thing we wanted was to be stuck in traffic on a main road right by the beach if a gargantuan wave was heading our way. This left only two options. Either we went back to our hotel room on the third floor and waited it out or we took the CRAZY back roads ( the ones the rental car companies tell you not to take their cars on) and find higher ground. We looked on our map and realized that if we drove the back roads for about an hour it would take us to Iao Valley State Park where we could hike and be in what Hawaiian's call the upcountry. However, after 45 minutes of driving on these INSANE roads and only 2 miles from our destination we were stopped by a uniformed police woman and told that the road was closed and that we had to turn around. BLAH! So we had no other choice than to head the same direction we had just come from. These are some of the skinniest, windiest, bumpiest, most insane roads I have ever driven on! They wind through tiny little villages where it seems that time has stood still. This also means that there are no stores, restaurants or public bathrooms in sight. While the views and surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful they are absolutely not convenient when your stuck there for who knows how many hours.  Our goal became to find a place to pull off where other cars could actually pass by. The roads are really that narrow in a lot of places. Luckily, about three miles up the road we found a small place to pull off that overlooked a bay and that is where we ended up hanging out for the next 5 1/2 hours. Our only connection to the outside world was the live radio broadcasts telling us any and every update that became available. I think that was the first time ever I have been truly grateful for the service of those who run the radio airwaves. They did an amazing job of keeping Hawaii informed. It was also there, overlooking that bay, that I became jealous that Matt was a boy because let's face it, boys can do their business so much easier in remote places than girls can. I was in pain by the time we left!

Long story short (and this story is already getting really long!) is that a very small tsunami did end up hitting Hawaii but it was nothing that would cause any destruction. We saw nothing out of the ordinary. The waves were small enough that one would never have suspected a tsunami. It was only the receding of water that gave it away that they truly were tsunami waves. The weather was gorgeous. And after sitting and waiting and watching for over 5 hours the tsunami watch was lifted, roads were reopened and life went on. For that we were so grateful and we were ready to actually be on vacation!!!

I have to say that it was a strange feeling to leave our hotel not knowing if we were going to be stuck on the island for several weeks, if we would be part of a huge relief effort, if we would ever get any of our stuff back that was in our hotel room or if we were prepared enough for our own survival if things got really bad. There were so many questions going through our heads but no really clear answers. Before we  left our hotel that morning we had said a prayer together that we would make the wisest choices,  that we would be warned of any dangers, and that we would be protected. I know we did the best we could and never did we feel a sense of panic. I feel extremely grateful for that especially since we don't know Maui, Hawaii very well and it would have been easy to panic.  How comforting it is to know that we can communicate with our Father who is in Heaven at any time, in any place and we can receive His comfort and guidance. I know that is what sustained us that day.

Since this has turned into such a long post I will do a quick rundown of the highlights of our trip.

* The road to Hana, especially the black sand beach. Amazing!

* Eating fresh sea food. The Ono stuffed with Lobster was lick your plate clean good. Matt couldn't get enough of trying the fish tacos where ever he found an opportunity to.

* Seeing the whales was pretty cool, but not as cool as I had hoped. We never got to see one really close up, but it was obvious that there were whales everywhere and they were definitely visible. I really wanted one to swim right up to our boat and do something amazing, but it wasn't our luck:0(

* Snorkeling. If you dove down in the water and cleared your ears you could hear the whales talking. It was really neat.

* Playing Quelf, our new favorite game, with the Cox's. We had a blast!!! Anyone who hasn't checked out the game Quelf must do so. Here's a teaser. During one game I had to say repeatedly, "I command you to be silent!" while Matt had to put his fingers up his nose and yell out something like, " So, do you like it!?!". It's seriously the craziest game I think we have ever played.

* Shave Ice. Not Shaved Ice. We found the best Shave Ice in Lahaina. The guy is from Portland, Oregon and moved to Hawaii 14 moths ago to open a shave ice stand. He makes all of his own flavors and they were magic in the mouth. Seriously. The ice was like snow and melted in your mouth. I know ice does that anyways, but seriously, this was amazing! My favorites were Haleakala (coconut & sweetened leche topped with cream) and Coconut Lovers topped with cream. We got 4 of these while on the island. Holy Yum!

* Scuba Diving. We saw an octopus for the first time. It was awesome! There were also tons of sea turtles. They are such amazing creatures. During our dives we could also hear the whales talking. So cool!

* Laying out on the beach. I was so much in heaven as the sun beat down on me that I dozed off for awhile and my eyelids got sunburned. I LOVE the sun!

While we hit quite a few bumps our first few days in Hawaii, I would say we still had a good time. After all,  we didn't get swept away by a huge tsunami wave, we got hang with good friends and Matt and I had time to reconnect. All great things for the soul. And how awesome are Matt's parents for letting us use their timeshare and for watching our kids for 9 days? Pretty dang awesome if you ask me.