The Testimony of a 0.5 foot Tsunami Survivor ^^

I first found out about the 8.8 earthquake at Chile on Saturday morning at 2am (Honolulu time). I stayed up to skype with my church friends back in Singapore as they were having a Reunion Dinner gathering for all members from our youth group. I was waiting for them to come online so I was just sitting at the lobby of my dorm watching TV. News about Chile was on TV and Tsunami warnings are given across the Pacific region. On the TV screen, it read sirens will go off at 6am. I thought that by sirens, they meant those along the beaches. The first wave will hit waikiki beach at 11:39am - plenty of time to sleep..

A staff at my dorm was watching and he was really taking it seriously. He phoned his family on the big island (in case u still dunno the hawaii islands. i am in oahu. big island is where the active volcano is. check googlemaps) because Hilo will be the first city to get hit by the tsunami waves. Many remember the tsunami generated by similar earthquakes back in 1940s and 1960 where lives and properties were lost. In those days, there weren't such tsunami alerts. he phoned ppl. and got a few residents to phone their families too... for me, i didn't really think much of it...

after skyping with my friends i went to sleep. at 6am i was awoken by the siren. Gees! it was LOUD! it sounded like an air-raid siren! and it went on for a long time (at least a few mins...) and from my bed i could feel the vibrations! my roommate and i were awaken. my roommate, who is a local, tried to explain it is a tsunami warning but i already knew from last night's news. Then I received a sms from a staff from InterVarsity trying to explain what the siren was and to be prepared and praying. yea, he figured that none of us as exchange students would know what the siren was about... we were encouraged to pray for God's mercy that Hawaii would be spared from it..

i went back to sleep but the siren kept coming back every hour. i guessed scuba would have been cancelled for sure. at 8 plus, i went downstairs and the TV was on the news channel ( a rare thing). ppl were reporting. i switched on the radio and the radio station weren't playing any music but kept giving info about the tsunami and interviewing various ppl. telling ppl which roads are closed, how to evacuate, ppl giving commentaries about electricity and sewage problems that might result if damage is severe... a long list of shops were closed. schs, malls, beach parks, etc.. it's a public holiday for everyone..

i went out with a few friends to find breakfast... starbucks was closed but Mac was open.. the streets were like a ghost town. very little ppl, no cars. really scary! there was a jam on the road to the mountains though. at first i thought ppl were evacuating. then i realised... everyone wants to go up to see the tsunami!!

ppl reacted differently. some were really preparing. putting together impt documents, cooking rice, storing food (cos many shops and restaurants might be closed due to the damage). some of my friends.. just slept thru it! it is a saturday morning! when they wake up at 11am... they were not informed and were really afraid. i got 2 friends posted on facebook they don't wanna die on their exchange!

whole of hawaii waited.. the first waves hit Hilo at 11am... it was small, not as big as expected but the scientists warned that there will be multiple waves. the highest water level rise was 4 feet? then at 11:20... there was a order given thru radio for all emergency personnel to evacuate impact zone. then.... nothing much happened... ppl mentioned about a sea level rise of 0.5foot? exact details i am not sure..

at 2pm the tsunami warning was lifted and life resumed back to normal... Answered prayer? No one really talk about it when nothing happened. That's how it is. Most ppl had the attitude of "Chey..." rather than grateful they missed a big disaster...

today at church, the pastor was commenting about the tsunami. we agreed that the tsunami was disappointing. not that we want any lives or properties to be lost.. but it was really anti-climax when nothing much happened.. he also mentioned about how there was a guy out in the sea surfing while everyone else evacuated. he mentioned how it is very difficult to feel compassion for ppl who dun heed warnings and think that it is a joke. it is difficult! look at the example of Noah!

~I'm a SURVIVOR!!! ^^