October 17, 2006
We all were shaken out of our sleep two mornings ago with the 6.6 earthquake. I immediately evacuated with the kids and thankfully no Tsunami appeared....but it did bring back memories...
Around 1960, we had a tsunami warning from Chile, which is SE of Kahului and 8 hours away by Tsunami standards. Since Kahului was facing North, we felt that it would not affect the Kahului area and we were all asleep in a beach house in Kahului harbor. My Dad had driven the boat out to sea as a precaution and at around 2 am in the morning, Mom came running into our room screaming that the first wave was coming into the Harbor. We all made a quick dash to the car without the dogs and cats and turned out onto Kaahumanu Ave. We noticed that Puunene Ave was running like a stream about waist high as we turned on up to Wailuku looking for higher grounds... Our neighbors were a little slower out of bed and the water caught them and one ended up grabbing on to a telephone pole while the wave went by. The best part as a kid was that school was cancelled and we explored all the tide pools for fish and octopus which made for a great day.
Hilo on the island of Hawaii wasn't so lucky with incredible damage to the town and many lives lost! I found this picture of the town in the aftermath. A few years later I visited Hilo and the parking meters were all bent to the ground!
Today on Maui we have awesome weather after yesterday's 10 inches of rain in Kaupo. The road to Hana on the backside of Maui was closed. It is so beautiful today. I am sure all the tourists are happy with the turn of the weather back to perfect!
Maui No Ka Oi...
Love Life. Live Maui.
Fred