Thursday, April 7, 2011

Just Another Emergency Alert in Paradise



Two nights ago we attended a community meeting regarding the tsunami evacuation plans for Honolulu County. Apparently with the last tsunami warning, there were problems. Six of our area sirens are out of commission. Some people were turned back at evacuation points. One person who is disabled couldn’t get out of her house to evacuate to a shelter.
Our legislators were there for the beginning, were introduced, then left.

Ed Teixeira, Vice Director for Civil Defense, was the one who most impressed me. Knowledgeable, responsible, personable. He’s what I’d like all my representatives to be. I wonder if he’s running for office? He’d be good in Washington.

Anyway, the scenario that would cause a high amount of devastation here on Oahu is an earthquake in Alaska that’s over a 9.0 magnitude.

It was a very informative meeting. I signed up for text message alerts from the Dept. of Emergency Management, just in case.

11:30 pm

I wish I could show you what the sky looks like here now. I’m sitting in my folding chair looking south outside my window. There’s a faint line where the tops of the mountains meet the night sky. Every minute or so the flash of lightning beacons over the mountain like a light bulb with crazy wires hanging down under it. It reminds me of my hair here in Hawaii. Where it had been smooth in San Francisco, it’s all crazy, curly frizzy here. I can smooth it out on top but it dangles all wonky below.

And guess what?
I just received a text message from the Dept. of Emergency Management.
There’s a flash flood warning here now until 1:45 am. We’re supposed to take action if we see flooding.

I’ve lived through snowstorms, earthquakes, heat waves…but what action do we take for flooding?

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