I Survived a Tsunami!

Hi all,

For those who don't know, I am currently in Hawaii.  We arrived here at about 7pm on Wednesday evening after travelling for over 24 hours from Farmville.  We are staying in Honolulu for a softball tournament.  We play our first game tonight and then 6 more games over the next 3 days.

So about 9.30pm last night, we returned from scouting a game between University of Hawaii and a Japanese College team and turned on the TV.  Right there in front of us was the devastation occurring in Japan.  The horror...this summer has seen so much horror across Australia, New Zealand and Japan.  It is difficult not to become overwhelmed by the horror of it all.  Such a reminder of the awesome power of this planet and mother nature.  All the technology we have and we are still at her mercy.

It did all seem a little surreal when the news began to report that Hawaii was under threat from a possible Tsunami as a result of the 8.9 earthquake in Japan.  The news began to report that residents in evacuation zones should now think about evacuating and then there was an actual civil defense siren that rung out across the city.  Now that was errie!  Not to sound overly dramatic but it did make me stop and think about what it must have been like around here on 7 December 1941.

As a budding psychologist it was interesting to observe the reactions to the unfolding drama of those around me.  Some calm, some truly upset, some non-plused.  I was asked what I thought and honestly after having slept in 6 beds in 12 days, I was honestly irritated that I'd have to move again without getting to sleep in a nice comfy bed with the probability of having to sleep on the floor again for two nights in a row.  But I also said that having been in the emergency services business for almost 18 years, I had rarely seen a true warning actually turn out to occur and I felt that everything would be fine.

As per usual, the news media were falling over themselves for a story and were once again making an absolute fool of themselves in the complete over the top and dangerous reporting that they spewed onto the TV.  They are seriously in danger of creating the 'boy who cried wolf' syndrome for future generations.  But for now they simply create panic, where panic is not necessary as well as providing 'entertainment' out of the misery of others. 

Simply though, it is a good idea to look for those actually in the know in these matters and ignore those who put themselves out there as experts or wish to popularise themselves through the panic and misery of others.  So when an actual civil defense warning sounds, it is a good idea to take notice.  When the town Mayor comes on TV and says, we would like anybody in an evacuation zone, and is not at least three stories up, to evacuate now, I consider that time to listen.  He also advised that he did not feel there would actually be a tsunami in Hawaii, however it was better to be safe than sorry.  This is great leadership.

You also need to read between the lines.  There are some significant Islands and shipping between Japan and Hawaii, so it would make sense that they would experience any issues first.  This was one good piece of reporting by the news.

But heeding the advice of the city Mayor, we as a team decided to leave our houses and head for safer ground as our houses are right on the ocean.  So our 6 seniors, our softball director, trainer and myself headed back to our house, packed a bag and headed for the house at high ground where some of the parents were staying.  The rest of the team headed down town to an evacuation center at a hotel and slept in the ballroom.  I think we had it much better than they did.  The girls mums did an awesome job of organising beds and made sure we were all comfortable.  The team staff did a great job of remaining calm and making the decision to move as directed by the Mayor.  The seniors also showed great leadership by remaining calm and following the direction of the coaches.  Well done everyone!

At our new accommodation we were well above sea level.  However a fire truck came by with its lights flashing and loud haler telling us to evacuate from there...now that was interesting, but it turned out we weren't actually required to move.  Everyone was pretty tired so it was time for bed.  Before sleep I made an attempt to email family and close friends to let them know I was O.K and that seemed to be appreciated.

So on waking up this morning, no tsunami had devastated Hawaii and of course we and I were grateful for that.  We turned on the news and internet devices and learnt that although we were O.K, civil defense wanted us to continue to stay home for the time being.  We stayed, there was no food but there was coffee YAY.  We did however watch in horror over the devastation in Japan and also the developing fear of nuclear disaster as the temperature at the core of one of Japan's reactors reached high levels.  We also saw vision of time lapse videos where the sea levels had in fact risen significantly in Honolulu and had just broken the sea barriers to cause minor flooding at the sea front.  The direction then came that we could return home.  And on the way, like nothing had happened I saw people walking dogs and a gardening crew doing someones lawn.  Weird but most likely a wonderful example that we must get back to our routine after such an event as ruminating over such an incident can lead to issues down the track.  Tonight we hopefully return to the diamond, the very reason we are here.

On returning home, it was great to eat something and as I looked at the water front in the front of our house, it was clear that the water had got somewhat high up the wall, at least 6 feet.  Then as we sat and ate breakfast we could actually see the next small surge come towards us!  Only something like 3 or 4 inches high but it was fascinating to watch.  Seeing how only 3 or 4 inches moved and made a sound, makes you only wonder how bad it must be at 20 feet and moving at 500mh!!!!!

So that seems to be it for the tsunami for Hawaii.  We are pretty much in a holding pattern now.  No team activities as we wait for our 1800hrs game against Hawaii.  The university is closed today but all evening activities are still open.  All schools across the island are also closed.

So the learning lessons from the experience?  Part of PTSD is about the control people feel they've lost in the face of a traumatic experience.  The hopelessness and helplessness of it all.  So in such situations it would appear a healthy move to feel somewhat in control of the situation.  However we can't simply stand there like Moses and part the sea.  We can however, turn on the TV or radio and follow the well considered advice of those who are in the know.  We can stay put until told to move.  We can pack a small bag of a couple of days clothes and supplies and we can move when advised.  We can also comfort those around us and help those possibly frozen by the fear of the situation. We can also talk amongst ourselves about how we feel about what we are experiencing. Through mindfulness we can also control our own emotions or at least how we react to those emotions.  All of these things are matters under our own direct control and make us feel, quite rightly, that we are in control of a situation seemingly out of control.  What we are actually in control of is how we deal with the situation within ourselves, the only true thing we can control in this world.  It is also clear to say that we 'survived' the situation.  It is clear that in the end we were in no real danger, however through the actions taken, if we were in danger, we would most certainly have survived by taking the advice of well informed individuals, solid leadership and conducting ourselves in a calm and collected manner.

We were also and of course lucky enough to have time to consider our options and take action whereas there are now people across Japan who were not so lucky to have such time and options for survival.  People lost and people missing.  It is also those who have perished that we must give thought to as a motivation to live and work hard towards our wishes, values and goals.  To unwaiveringly chaise our dreams, and live.  We have the freedom to make such a choice.

I now think I have sorted out the comments issue, so you should all now be free to comment if you wish.

I look forward to next time.

D