Some heard 2:59 a.m., others 3:07, but as the clock ticked past the expected arrival times of the ocean-wide tsunami, Merle and Kay Richter regretted not joining friends on a Thursday night flight home. “Our wish is that we could
Some heard 2:59 a.m., others 3:07, but as the clock ticked past the expected arrival times of the ocean-wide tsunami, Merle and Kay Richter regretted not joining friends on a Thursday night flight home.
“Our wish is that we could have flown out with them,” Richter said as he stood under a street light near St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in Kapa‘a.
The Richters, who hail from Wisconsin, evacuated their Kapa‘a hotel after learning of the tsunami that meteorologists believed would slam the coasts of the Hawaiian archipelago early Friday morning.
“We didn’t waste any time thinking about it,” Kay Richter explained.
They weren’t the only ones.
Kauai’s Visitors Bureau reported that approximately 4,500 visitors were evacuated from resorts and hotels or were otherwise impacted by the tsunami warning. Roughly 2,300 people filtered into holding areas at public schools and neighborhood centers around Kaua‘i. County spokespeople said most were visitors.
In Kapa‘a, cars mobbed gas stations, filed slowly along Kuhi‘o Highway toward supermarkets, eventually parking on Kawaihau Road and around local schools. In classrooms, visitors and locals stared anxiously at news broadcasts, horrified by images from Japan.
Hanalei resident Ryan Harrington, who came to the Catholic church’s parking lot after finishing work for the evening, said he couldn’t go home. Kaua‘i Police were preventing people from driving into Hanalei.
“I’m just worried about all of my family and everybody’s safety here,” Harrington said.
Jasmine Kapahu of Kapa‘a, who recently became a mother, worried her home would be destroyed by rushing waves. She evacuated to Kawaihau Road at about 11:30 p.m. and remained there well after 4 a.m.
“I don’t want to start over,” she said. “Most of our stuff is down there.”
‘We were very lucky’
One woman who lives across the street from a beach on Aliomanu Road in Anahola said she was fast asleep when she heard police urging residents to evacuate at 1 a.m.
“It was only because of their repeated efforts up and down the street that I woke up,” said Lori Stitt. “I am thankful to the Kauai Police Department for making sure that our coastal area residents were properly notified and instructed on what to do.”
She added that waves and river pushed debris all the way up the beach to the road, where it stopped short of damaging homes.
“We were very lucky,” Stitt said in an e-mail to The Garden Island.
Waiting for the
‘all clear’
In some parts of the island, waiting took on an almost festive air.
Parking lots at Walmart and Kaua‘i Community College filled up as hundreds of residents and visitors found refuge on the Eastside.
Sprawled out on grassy areas or reclined in the seats of rental cars, dozens of people searched for some shut eye while waiting for the “all clear” signal.
Others who were evidently too anxious to sleep mingled in small groups. The scene in some areas resembled a tailgating party before a college football game.
A couple from Wisconsin who had to evacuate from their condo at The Point at Po‘ipu said the officials facilitating the KCC holding space did an excellent job in accommodating the diverse crowd and making everyone as comfortable as possible.
The sole security guard for the Puhi campus said he enjoyed having company instead of making his regular rounds in the wee hours by himself.
A handful of people around 2:30 a.m. filtered out of Walmart — which stayed open due to the tsunami warning — pushing shopping carts filled with water, rice, candles, batteries, toilet paper and other emergency supplies.
Resorts
Hotels around the island took several different measures to protect guests.
At The St. Regis Princeville Resort, approximately 210 guests in the first seven floors of the 11-floor facility either moved to rooms on upper floors or stayed in two lounge areas set up in the grand ballroom and lobby, said Stephanie Reid, the public relations director. Staff members provided a flat-screen TV, refreshments and a special area for families with children.
“Everyone was very gracious and reasonable and considerate. It all went very smoothly,” she said.
At the Hanalei Colony Resort, where televisions and telephones are absent from rooms, hotel staff found themselves barraged with questions about the tsunami.
“Once the sirens went on they pretty much made their way to their vehicles,” said Concierge Juan Gomez.
About 130 guests evacuated around 10 p.m. from the beachfront resort to Princeville or Kilauea. Most returned to the resort between 8 and 10:30 a.m.
“We were expecting something big. We were scared,” Gomez said. “Any warning is good enough excuse to get out.”
The airport
Even while tourists and locals moved to higher ground, new visitors landed on the island at the Lihu‘e Airport.
Brian Gresback of River Falls, Wis., said he and his family had no idea a tsunami warning was in effect when their American Airlines flight from Wisconsin via Dallas and Los Angeles finally arrived at the airport late Thursday night.
“When we left the airport and went into town, we noticed long lines at the gas stations and wondered what are all these people were waiting for gas for,” he said.
When they stopped at a small market for some beverages, the clerk told them about the tsunami warning. The news took the Wisconsin family by surprise.
He said after traveling for 11 hours straight, he feels extremely fortunate that their flight was able to land at the airport.
Susan A. Kanoho, the executive director of the Visitors Bureau, said rental car businesses were asked to inform visitors of the tsunami warning.
“But, I can’t promise you that every single person did that,” she said. “The good news is we didn’t get any complaints.”
Derek Inoshita, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said the airport was fully operational throughout the warning period, although Mokulele Loop leading to the airport was shut down.
Between 5 and 9 a.m., five departures were canceled — two from Hawaiian Airlines and three from Go! Airlines. Another was canceled from IslandAir. Only interisland flights were affected.
One departure flight was delayed for Alaska Air, Inoshita said, because passengers couldn’t get to the flight.
Beaches
Friday afternoon, ocean conditions in the south were still uncertain.
Po‘ipu Beach Park lifeguard Aaron Habermann told beachgoers “when in doubt, don’t go out,” and instructed them to stay out of the water.
He said at one point during the tsunami watch the beach’s tombolo was completely covered in water and pointed to evidence of an elevated water line along Po‘ipu Beach.
But further down the coast, Gwen Ratcliffe of Los Angeles said she didn’t care about the ocean advisory and was determined to make the most of her vacation.
“I’m more scared of sharks than waves,” she said.
Ratcliffe and a half dozen other snorkelers communed with the fishes at Lawai Beach cove around noon Friday.
“I’m spending all of my savings to be here. It’s costing me $600 a day, so I only get a few days,” she said as she backed into the water with her fins on and snorkel mask dangling. “I’ll be damned if I’m going to sit on shore.”
The Garden Island staff writers Nathan Eagle and Vanessa Van Voorhis contributed to this report.
