Friday we went to sleep after hearing of the 8.8 earthquake in Chile. Having heard from my Red Cross disaster training that earthquakes in Chile will most likely send a tsunami our way (depending on its depth), I wasn't surprised to hear there was a warning in the morning...but I wasn't expected to wake up at 4am!!! Nate's dad had called to tell us the alert had changed to a warning. Since we live across from the beach and off a road that runs parallel with the ocean, we decided to leave before the sirens went off at 6am. For the first hour, we (or I should say, I) walked around in circles, going "okay, so what am I supposed to do?" We mostly protected our stuff from possible looting, filling the livingroom with surfboards. Kezia and Elysse made sure that Daddy secured their bikes from the possible 6-and 2- year old thieves prowling around the neighborhood. Kezia packed her backpack and made sure her gumball machine made it out to safety.
We didn't end leaving until the siren went off anyway. Nate and Kay and the girls headed up the hill to the middle of the island to go out to breakfast and our kind friends invited them over to play.
Heading out at 6am
Looks like the height of Kezia's whip-cream was higher than the tsunami!!
Hangin with their friends
I stayed down on the north shore near the possible shelter area, since because of my Red Cross training, I could help in case they opened a shelter. I hung out at my friends' house, went skating on near-empty streets, and headed up the hill with my friends to watch the ocean and the "waves roll in".
Yeah, well, nothing happened. But it was still fun to have a very different adventure!! And of course, better safe than sorry. ;)
I had a lesson scheduled for 11am that day....when the tsunami was supposed to strike. They called later to reschedule for that evening. Seeing that there wasn't a threat on the water, we went out. Boy, it was funky out there! The river showed the tsunami ripples the most, with the water flowing in quickly, causing small eddies and ripples where it is usually calm, then the water turning glassy-still, then receding quickly back to the ocean. This happened continuously throughout the lesson. The silt on the bottom of the river plumed to the top. The paddlers and I had a thrill with it -- we paddled on through a tsunami! I posted some pics so you can see how different the water kept changing.
The river mouth
It was glassy-still between flows
If you watch, you can see little eddies, plumes, and ripples form. Hey, when you wake at 4am for a tsunami warning, and all that comes in is a ripple, you gotta live it up as much as you can!!!
I thought our friends were so funny. They live right across the street from the shelter area, but still packed up their emergency supplies that would last them a week and headed up to the hills!
