The Tsunami Alert Newsletter - March
2010
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In This Issue
...
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1. Quotation of the
Month
2. Words of the
Month
3. Conversation Story of the Month &
Conversation Questions
4. True April Fool's Story about the 1960
Tsunami
5. Check Out My
Blog
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1. Quotation of the
Month
"I never met a
tsunami alert I didn't like."
Easy for me to say, now that the coast is
clear!
-Tracey
E. Bennett
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2. Words of the Month:
disabuse
(DIS-abuse) & tsunami
disabuse -verb: To
free from a falsehood or
misconception
Let me disabuse you of the idea
that a tsunami is a surfable
wave. It's a series of surges, in and out,
in and out, that can last for hours. The
first surge might not be the biggest. The
more there are -- and the bigger they are
-- the messier they get, as debris washes
in and out.
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3. Conversation Story of the
Month
On Friday Chile suffered a
massive earthquake. On Saturday the
whole state of Hawaii, and all around
the Pacific Rim, was on tsunami
watch. We knew a tsunami was coming
because the buoys at sea relayed
vital information to scientists in
Honolulu and elsewhere. I got the
news at 5:58 a.m., two minutes before
the emergency sirens went
off.
RING!
RING! I bounded out of bed and rushed to
the phone. "Oh, you're up" Gaelyn said in a
cheery, wide-awake voice. "I am now," I
said. Gaelyn was anchored off the coast of
Molokai, and by the time my tea water was
hot, she was safely at sea. Deep water's
the best place to be; a tsunami's only
destructive in shallow water. Impact was
predicted for 11:05 in Hilo, which is
closest to Chile.
Our
Hawaii Kai house is 410 feet high, out of
harm's watery way, but subject to power
outages; and if the tsunami wrapped around
the island, our area could be cut off
going east and west. (Mountains are north,
ocean is south.)
Stocking supplies seemed
more important than brewing tea, so
I drove to Safeway with my my iPod and
patience. The parking lot was jammed,
so the store's aisles would be, too. I was
in a great mood.
Why?
Because Hawaii people are extra friendly
when disaster looms. For example,
I started a good conversation
with a woman in the long, l-o-n-g checkout
line. She'd gotten everything but bottled
water. Later I overheard there WAS water
and relayed the news to her. She paused. A
total stranger said, "I'll get it for you."
And off he went. Wow!
By 10
a.m. the ocean was thick with sailboats and
powerboats. The road up to my house was
lined with cars. Residents from the
inundation zones were tailgating on the
ridge, scanning the ocean, making the most
of a beautiful Saturday. (Thank heaven it
was not a work or school day!)
Neighbors Jean and Ellen came
over to share the view. We darted from the
deck to the TV. Would Hilo get whacked
again as it did in 1946 and 1960? Our own
eyes verified what we saw on
TV: Sandbars and rocks appeared in 3
minutes, only to submerge again. Currents
went this way and that. Instead of roaring
bursts of destruction, the surges were less
than 3 feet. Whew! Hawaii had dodged a
bazillion liquid bullets.
Conversation
questions:
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Have you
experienced acts of nature,
such as earthquakes,
hurricanes, tornados, and big
winds?
What was
that like?
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Have you
witnessed altruism in times of
danger or
destruction?
-
If you had
to evacuate your house in 2
hours, what would you
take?
-
Do you
have important papers in one
place, easy to
grab?
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Do you
have an emergency family plan?
If an emergency hit your area,
phones might be down. You'll
need a place to meet up or a
way to connect with each other
via a relative in another
state.
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Do you
have enough supplies to sustain
you for a week? Think water,
canned food, pet chow, and
medical supplies.
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4. True April Fool's Story about the 1960
Tsunami
If
you missed the story last April,
click here.
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5. Check Out My
Blog
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© 2010 Tracey E.
Bennett
All rights
reserved.
As
always, I welcome your comments, questions
and anecdotes.
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