feeling thankful

we were at dinner when i first heard that Japan had just suffered a huge earthquake and we (Hawaii) were now under a tsunami "watch."  we leisurely finished our meal and then headed home.  i immediately turned the tv to CNN and my jaw dropped and my heart ached as i watched mother nature pummel homes, businesses and communities in minutes.  and then there were the people who moved to higher grounds in search of safety and waved flags to signal help.  i was glued to the tv and computer as i tried to follow the fate of the tsunami and the destruction in Japan and potentially here in Hawaii.

by 10 pm, the "watch" turned into a "warning," which meant that tsunami waves were headed our way.  we live very close to the water and are in a coastal flood zone which meant that we needed to evacuate.  i took a shower and started packing essentials and valuables for the family just in case we needed to leave the house.  i was really hoping that they would call off the warning but it didn't happen.  in fact, the sirens kept going off, making the situation all that more real and frightening.  and then by 1 am, the police were driving up and down our street announcing that we must evacuate by 2 am.  i'll admit...i was a bit scared...but knew that we really needed to prepare for the worst but hope for the best.  (we had this same thing happen to us last year after the earthquake in Chile.)

we packed up, loaded up the car and the entire family (the mister, the baby, the furbaby, and my parents who live next door) headed to a friend's house in Manoa for the night.  the first waves were estimated to arrive just past 3 am and we all stayed up to watch the live coverage.  we were really lucky that our side of the island was spared but this is not to say that Hawaii didn't experience substantial damage.  parts of the north shore of Oahu and the Big Island sustained heavy property damage.  luckily, there were no lives lost (i think).  

i definitely let out a sigh of relief that we were once again spared but my mind keeps going back to the images of destruction in Japan.  they are still experiencing a multitude of aftershocks and other sequelae from the earthquake and tsunami.  it must be incredibly frightening to be there right now.  Japan is one of my favorite travel destinations and i can't even begin to fathom what people are feeling and experiencing right now.

thankfully, the handful of people i know scattered throughout Japan are all okay albeit a bit shaken up.  my heart goes out to everyone who has suffered from this weekend's tragic events.  please pray for Japan.