Get ready, get set… for the next one

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The tsunami outcome was optimal: enough unnatural wave action to show there had been an event, but not enough to disrupt our lives for more than a day.

Still, we all get to the point, after one of these escapes, where we think ahead to the next one, and particularly to the next one we don’t escape.

Here’s a fresh look at your next-time checklist:

Gassing up the car. For many people this ought not to be a big deal. Think about it. If you have less time to evacuate than the hours we were given this time, the fact is that even a quarter tank is enough to get most of us where we need to go and back.
Water. This is a bigger deal than some people think. Even our demonstration tsunami left Maui with sewer problems, and power outages have created water problems on Oahu in the past. You need good containers and a place to put them. You might even get containers that filter water and use them all the time.
Food and supplies: You have a linen closet with floor space. Fill it with toilet paper rolls and act as if you have “run out” whenever there is space down there. Invent a similar space in the kitchen for canned goods. Goal: to have no urgent supply needs at the time of the next power outage or evacuation order.
Back-up power. I’ve got two back-up power supplies, about the size and weight of car batteries because they’re based on the same idea. One can power lights and a radio for days. You can use one to power your entire computer system and it will last all night and then some. They have built-in spotlights and they are portable, with big strong handles.
Cell phones. It doesn’t take a tsunami for a dead cell phone to be a problem. Everyone needs to learn to have short, businesslike calls at times like that, and everyone needs to have the charger right next to the bed.
Information. The state could still use a better statewide information network. It could be based on Hawaii Public Radio, which already has a network and can allow commercial stations to pick up information without harm to itself, or on one of the TV stations with statewide distribution, if radio stations can be wired in. The key: reroute the line from studio to tower through civil defense inside Diamond Head.
Adopt a victim. In your family or circle of friends there is someone who is not well-equipped to handle an emergency. Suppose that person is your responsibility? What is your plan to take them with you, or to share your resources with them? Work it out now, when it’s not urgent, so you know without thinking what to do when it is.

Feb

27

Apotheosis of the dumbass

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The tsunami was due, the beach was evacuated, and there he was: one lone moron moving clumsily through the water like it was any other day off Magic Island.

“Look at that schmuck,” Taizo Braden blurted out, not realizing that in other cities that particular epithet would be considered a little strong for TV viewers.

Those viewers would learn later that authorities in a helicopter made the guy wade back where he came from, the babooze section of the beach.

“I can tell you he’s not a waterman just from the way he moves,” Guy Hagi said, in my favorite putdown of the entire affair.

He might not have been a waterman, and he certainly was fecalcephalic, but he captured the attention of Hawaii. Someone created a Facebook fan club called, “The idiot who was swimming in Waikiki during the tsunami warning,” and by 4 p.m. he had more than 4,000 fans.

“This page reminds me of something my husband would do,” posted Megan. “He is such a goober.”

“Supah lolo kine tourist!” Elsa said.

Nathan took exception to some of the remarks about the lolo in question. In deference to your delicate sensibilities I’ll translate his posting out of all capital letters:

“Some of the best waves we’ve gotten all winter are goin (sic) off right now shut your mouths!!!!!!!!!!! Its (sic) mainly dangerous if you are a weak swimmer! If any of you (vulgar term deleted) know someone who surfs regularly,, (sic) you should know that surfers are generally very strong swimmers!!”

Nathan would have written more but his brain hurts.

Feb

27

Notes from Tsunami Day

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Before scheduled arrival of the first tsunami wave, I looked out my aerie in Wild West Waikiki and saw what looked like a regatta. Sailboats were being taken out to open water, where they’re safer in a tsunami.

Earlier, while I was doing all-tsunami-all-the-time on Hawaii Public Radio, a friend called from Kona to say she heard from a fisherman in Hilo who was taking his boat out to open water (a) to be safe, and (b) to catch all the fish.

So much about a tsunami is either counter-intuitive or differs from what people think who get all their information from movies.

A tsunami is not a regular wave at all, but a massive incursion of the ocean, coming not once but several times, with equally extreme outward movement in between, revealing more of the ocean floor than it customarily seen. The first couple incursions are usually not the worst. The ones in the middle are.

Everyone obsesses about how high the waves will be, but in truth it is the horizontal force of the tsunami that is most to be feared. A manini tsunami, say, three feet, can carry cars a block inland or hurl furniture at people with enough force to break bones. Even a vestigial tsunami, barely visible, can create strange currents and eddies around beaches and marines that create temporary hazard for people in or near the water. The practical effect of a tsunami includes other hazards… hoarding that causes supply shortages, for example, and health problems from disrupted wastewater systems.