Vacation Tsunami

Before we left on this vacation, I was kidded for having a mental plan of what to do in case of an earthquake or a volcano eruption on the two Hawiian islands we planned on visiting.  Always the 'safety officer' of the family, but never a boy scout, we are safely perched about 1200 ft. above sea level in a Safeway parking lot, awaiting the tsunami that supposed to hit here in about 4 hours.

I had a diet coke about 8 p.m. and found myself wide awake, working on the computer, when the local broadcast broke into Olympic coverage to announce the 8.8 earthquake in Chile and the subsequent tsunami watch that Hawaii was under.  That watch turned to a warning by 1:30 a.m.  I packed up and went to sleep from 2-4 a.m.  Kathy and I left our sea level hotel by 4:15 a.m.

Everyone's been orderly and polite, as we have about 3.5 hours until the tsunami is to hit South Point.  (See previous blog about South Point.)  Since we're slightly north and west of that point, in Kaulea-Kona, we might see it arrive about 10-15 minutes later.  Last time I heard, a 12 foot wave or higher might pound the coast for 6 hours.

We're supposed to fly out tomorrow, back to Honolulu and then onto Maui, for Kathy's ER meeting.  In the meantime, we're meeting other visitors and snow birds that have evacuated the low-lying bay.  We found an outlet on the outside of the building and one gentleman is setting up a phone charging station with his power strip.  Coffee and donuts are wafting in the air and other computer users are setting up a cue.  It's time to cede my outlet and wireless connection that Safeway's provided.  More later.