The Sound of the Sirens

At 11Pm were received a phone call telling us that a 8.9 earthquake hit Japan and a Tsunami was expected to hit Hawaii at 3AM. Kai was instructed to fill his car up with gas immediately. It took him 40 minutes to do so and he was one of the firsts cars in line. While he was gone I packed up all of our belongings as our children lay sleeping unaware of the impending threat. We were in a house just feet away from the ocean's edge.

Our car was packed to the brim with baggage, food and toilet paper. The family we stayed with was even kind enough to give us to two boxes of their food storage, just in case. We called my brother Chris and his wife, Sarah, who had heard nothing about the danger we were in, and told them to be ready. They brought a few supplies with them and we set a course for Halawa Heights. Kai's Aunt and Uncle reside in what was once Grandpa Davis' home. The house sits high on a mountain top that over looks Pearl Harbor.

The tension that filled the car was thick and mounting. We listened to the radio to try to understand what was happening as we drove parallel along the ocean's edge. The night was black and we hoped the vast darkness wasn't masking an enormous wave heading our way.

For a short while a line of cars was passing us headed the opposite direct while the lane in front of us was wide open. I worried that the the cars on the left side of our two lane road new something we didn't. Earlier in the week we had to turn from this road due to flooding. We had 2 hours until the Tsunami hit and we could afford to take the two and a half hour ride around the island to arrive at our destination. Kai called his policeman friend who assured us that the road was unobstructed.

At long last we arrived at Grandpa's house where Auntie and Uncle accepted us eight refugees with open arms. Kai and Chris carried the sleeping children into a bedroom and then we watched the news until we could no longer keep our eyelids open.

I felt safe on the top of Halawa Hts road. I slept well waking only momentarily to hear the last tsunami warning . . . and then I died. Just kidding, I am totally alive.

The big Island and Maui took the tsunami the hardest. From what I hear the wave reached its way one third of a mile inland and the harbors around the state got boats jostled around like a bull in a china shop.

We feel so fortunate and blessed that we were kept safe from this potential disaster and our hearts go out as well as our prayers to those who were not as lucky. Now lets hope that Japan's nuclear reactor doesn't blow.