There were some tense moments last Friday as Central Albertans waited to connect with friends and family in earthquake ravaged Japan and other tsunami threatened countries.
Bowden Grandview vice-principal Gail Thompson said a student at the school on exchange from Japan was able to confirm later in the day that her family was unharmed in the 8.9 earthquake.
She said school officials also confirmed that day that two former students who had left Bowden two days prior to go back to Japan were also unharmed.
The earthquake, described as the worst in Japan's history, triggered a tsunami warning across 20 countries along the Pacific coast.
Sundre Round Up editor Dan Singleton was vacationing in Maui, Hawaii when the warnings began.
“Things are tense here, a bit alarming,” said Singleton after being allowed to return back to his beach-front hotel Friday morning.
He and wife Lori were forced to evacuate to higher ground last Thursday night amidst threats of a tsunami.
Singleton was watching the news that night and caught coverage of the Japanese earthquake that hit the Pacific Ocean near northeastern Japan about 2:46 p.m. (local time) on March 11.
“A few minutes later alarms were going off,” Singleton said. “They were air raid sirens, tsunami warnings. We were to be out of the area by 2 a.m.”
Upon their return to their hotel the next morning, Singleton said the beaches were still closed but no widespread damage was noticeable.
Arnie Gess, a 48-year old Sundre resident and businessman, and his wife, Sylvia Blanchette, were nearing the end of their two-week vacation at Hanalei Bay Resort on the Island of Kauai, Hawaii, when the unthinkable happened.
In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake that hit Japan, tsunamis had formed and would soon present themselves on the beaches of Kauai.
“The first wave hit at 3:07 a.m.,” said Gess.
“It was night time, and dark, so I couldn't really see anything,” said Gess of the 12 foot waves reported by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
“Sylvia, my wife, was a little more nervous about it, but obviously I was concerned too.
“We were in the town of Hanalei for dinner last night, which is the town they were really concerned about in the beginning. It's very low-lying and close to the coast.”
They had just returned from supper and were watching a television program when they received a call from Blanchette's sister and brother in law, who were at another resort on the island.
“They said, ‘Hey, did you hear about the thing in Japan?' and that was it. So much for the TV show. We watched the news the rest of the night.”
“Since 9 p.m. last night they started sounding warning sirens every hour, which would last for about 10 minutes. And that would be all over the island.”
Gess describes the tsunami warning sirens as extremely loud.
“I could hear the authorities warning people from their cars on the loudspeaker.
“I was really impressed with the Hawaiian authorities, and how they warned people.
“I think there was a six-hour warning. Every hour they kept blasting their horn,”
“It was very calm; I was really impressed with that.”
Gess and his wife were staying on the second floor of the three-floor units, so they didn't have to move rooms like ground-floor guests.
“We got all prepared and went to the hotel desk – and they said that we should be fine,” he said.
“They said they would know on our door if we had to evacuate or anything, so we had our bags packed just in case.
“It seemed very calm and orderly, but you could tell everyone was up, ‘cause the lights were on.”
Gess and his wife stayed up-to-date with the extensive television coverage of the natural disaster.
“You'd pretty much have pretty much be in a pretty remote place to not know that it was coming,” he says.
Gess took to the internet, researching Hawaii's previous tsunami's, and discovered that lots of people had been killed.
“Back in those days, they didn't have all the warning systems [they do now].
“They actually put all of this in place after the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia.”
Gess said Hawaii even has evacuation areas displayed on each island's map in the Yellow Pages.
“If you're near the coastal areas, and you're in the red zone, you're supposed to move to higher ground.”
The resort property where Gess and Blanchette were staying is located about 100 feet up from the ocean on a cliff, set inland roughly 300 yards from the edge.
“You can see the ocean, I'm looking at it right now. It looks fine, but they're saying today don't go near the water, because it's still unpredictable.
Even yesterday when we were down on the beach – and that was even before the earthquake – the water seemed different to us.
“Way bigger waves; but maybe that's normal. I'm not really experienced enough to say.”
Though Hanalei Bay is located on the northern side of the island, and the waves were coming from the west, apparently location is irrelevant when you're surrounded by water.
“I'm watching the news down here, and they were saying that the tsunami's can wrap around the island, so it doesn't really matter what side you're on,” said Gess early Friday morning.
“It's just part of life I guess. They get earthquakes here, and tsunamis, and everything.”
Though they try to vacation every year, this was Gess' first time in Hawaii.
“The island of Kauai is the furthest west. With everything going on in Japan, you don't know what the heck is going to happen.”
After experiencing such an ordeal, would Gess consider returning to or living in Hawaii?
“I don't that this would scare me from living here. I probably wouldn't buy an ocean front property, that's for sure.”
There were no immediate reports of damage on Kauai, which was the first island to have the tsunami warning lifted at about 7:30 a.m., according to a report from the Honolulu Star Advertiser.
- With files from Lea Smaldon
