Hilo’s tsunami museum closes due to financial woes; staff laid off

The Pacific Tsunami Museum is in dire financial straits, and its organizers hope the community will step up and help it navigate out of troubled waters.

According to Carol Walker, acting board chair, the museum has laid off all its salaried employees, including Director Cindi Preller and Associate Director Josh Bell.

Preller, Bell and others remain on as unpaid volunteers.

A notice taped to the museum door at the corner of Kamehameha Avenue and Kalakaua Street in downtown Hilo says the museum is temporarily closed and has suspended operations “due to funding challenges.”

The notice also asks those who view it to “help us reopen” and has a QR code visitors can scan to donate funds.

“We have a lot of challenges, but we don’t want to give up,” Walt Dudley, an oceanographer and co-founder of the museum told the Hawaii Tribune-­Herald on Tuesday. Dudley has stepped down as board chair but remains active at the museum he helped to found in 1994 with 1946 tsunami survivor Jeanne Branch Johnston.

Carla Kuo, executive director of the Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce, said: “It’s important to our community and visitors. They educate about the hazards of tsunami and lives lost. It’s a part of us; it’s a part of our history. So it would be a devastating loss to our community.

“I hope that people will step up to help the museum.”

As for why the museum, which has thrived in the past, is in distress, Walker cited the loss of admission money from cruise ship passengers during the novel coronavirus pandemic as one factor.

“There were one or more key donors in the past who have passed on,” she added. “In addition, I think the museum has become a little less immediate for some people because there hasn’t been a tsunami for a long time, which is great. But it also means that people’s memories are fading, and some of the folks who were most directly affected have passed on.

“That has probably had an impact on donations to the museum from the local community.”

And the building, which was donated by First Hawaiian Bank when it closed its Kamehameha Branch and became the museum’s home in 1998, is aging.

“Our building is so old, it really needs a lot of maintenance,” Dudley said. “That’s what really wrecked our budget. The air conditioning no longer works, and we have our doors open. And it helps a little bit.”

Walker and Preller said they have generous support from the Edmund C. Olson Trust and are seeking additional partners in what Walker described as their “dream of revitalization.”

“We’re looking from other investors who believe in our mission, and then we can actually do some solid strategic planning,” Preller said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, but we’re not panicking here.”

County Council member Jenn Kagiwada, who represents downtown Hilo, called the museum “very special.”

“I think there are people who could be supporting it, like (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and maybe some other agencies that want people to understand about tsunamis,” Kagiwada said. “I had my staff reach out and send (Preller) some information about a couple of county grants … that perhaps they would be eligible for to get some funding.”

According to Walker, there are “three dimensions” to what makes the museum special and worth saving.

“There’s history, because there is so much that happened in the past,” she said. “And that is all documented in the museum, where there are wonderful archives with the stories of survivors and photographs. And that’s very meaningful, especially in a small community like East Hawaii.

“There’s science. It’s a place to learn about how tsunamis form, how likely are they and can you predict it. It’s good information to have, particularly when you live in a place that’s prone to tsunamis.

“And there’s safety, hazard mitigation. All of the Hilo waterfront area is very much at risk. And someday there will be another tsunami. And if people are prepared, there can be far less loss of life and damage to property.”

Dudley noted Dec. 26 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Indian Ocean tsunami, the deadliest natural disaster of the 21st century, with almost 228,000 deaths. In addition, May 23 will mark the 65th anniversary of the 1960 tsunami that killed 62 people and injured 282 in Hawaii — all in Hilo. And Nov. 27 will be the 50th anniversary of the Halape tsunami, which swamped local Boy Scouts camping in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park in the middle of the night.

“This is the only museum whose main purpose is to never forget those that we lost — and to see that it doesn’t happen again — by educating people about tsunamis,” Dudley said. “It’s great we have our own warning system, but we also have local tsunamis, in which there’s no time for the warning system to operate for the people closest to where it comes from, like in Halape in ’75.”

Losses from that earthquake and tsunami resulted in two deaths, injuries to 28 people and about $4.1 million in property damage. Both deaths, all the injuries and roughly a third of the property losses were attributed to the tsunami.

“By learning about the signs of a tsunami, people recognize what’s going on and can hit the high ground and be safe,” Dudley said. “The more time that goes on, the more people forget and the greater the actual geologic risk. Because these plate tectonics, they don’t stop moving. And then you have the tension build up. And if you have a big earthquake next to the ocean or in the ocean, it can generate a tsunami.”

Walker said the museum is trying to open its doors for a few hours each day.

“I think it’s dependent on the availability of volunteers,” she said. “I know the staff has been really close-knit and hardworking. There was a commitment to stay open for a few hours every day, like 10 to 2, assuming that volunteers could be scheduled for that.”

“We’re trying to do more outreach,” added Dudley. “We have free first Saturday for kamaaina, and the entrance fee for kamaaina is only 5 bucks.”

For those who wish to provide a little a Christmas cheer to the museum, a donation portal is on its website at tsunami.org.

“We’ve got to save the museum,” Kuo said. “My grandmother is a tsunami survivor. She lost both her parents and her sister lost her kids, so it definitely affected our family. And our families’ stories are there.”