Well, today, Saturday, February 27th, is a day we will not soon forget – the day we survived a tsunami, even a mini one. We so appreciate the prayers and concern of our friends and family. It all started about 24 hours ago when we first learned of the earthquake in Chili and the possibility of a tsunami heading out over the Pacific waters. But we thought little of it and went to bed without giving it a second thought… Fast forward to the middle of the night when our cell phones started ringing and the alarms and announcements started here at the resort. By the time I became conscious and aware of what was going on, Craig was already gone – taking the car out of the basement parking lot and driving to the nearest gas station. He’d have bought any provisions that were left but stores were not opened at 5 am!
By 7 am we were all in action mode – contacting friends and family when we could get the cell phone signal to work (the circuits were jammed much of the time); filling bath tubs with water, charging up everything we could charge and preparing for any power loss and packing our “to-go” bags in case we had to flee in a hurry. With the initial wave due to hit after 11 am, they ordered us inside by 10 am; a walk of the property here before that time was both surreal and eerie. A beautiful sunny day, just like any other day here; folks milling about with nervous energy. The only hint that something was amiss was the extremely low tide in the lagoon where even the low tide line was exposed along with rocks in the ocean normally covered by surf. So we prayed, sat and waited here on the 5th floor… as zero hour approached we headed up to the 16th floor for a better view but after awhile, decided just to stick it out in our unit.
After time passed (or in some ways seemed to stand still), it became apparent that while there were certainly some effects in the waves all around each of the islands, there would not be a damaging water surge. So we all went to take naps since at this point we were exhausted from the drama of the past 8 hours. By 2 pm the “all clear” signal was given and folks were allowed to venture back outside.
We spent the afternoon/evening back at our favorite perch overlooking the ocean, near the pool, but not all was back to normal. Just as we arrived outside it was evident that the tides were still erratic and actually 911 had to be called for a swimmer who was pulled out to sea from the lagoon. We hope he was okay. You could see the water surge out and back in with such force that the authorities did not allow folks back in that water for the rest of the day; every time someone would try to go in, someone was there to order them out. So glad for all the precautions they took during this crisis. So while everything was sort of back to normal, it was clear that caution still ruled the day. We stayed outside past sunset, in order to take in every moment of beauty and wonder before our paths diverge later tonight; the Slacks fly back to New York at midnight and we fly over to Kauai at noon tomorrow for another week here.
A day to remember for sure…
Today's two pictures: the lagoon this morning with the unusually low tide... also so strange that all the beach chairs were removed and no one was allowed on the beach...
And... our dear friends, Matt & Siobhan who were on this adventure with us as they pack to go home...
