Ignoring evacuation orders

[Kapohocat]

quote:

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Originally posted by Carey...
(Oh and there are those cute little packaged BBQs that would be great for the evac kit (that someone from Scuba Sunday has), and we always have a pack of frozen hot dogs .... so that would not be a huge burden for most..

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Duh! What a great idea. I was thinking our big BBQ rolled down the street in the hours between sirens and wave but that is so much simplier.

[ericlp]

OK, it's a personal choice. Just like it's a personal choice to build your home in lava zone 1...

Stay or go. Tho for me if you up 100' above sea level what the hell, or a at least a mile from the shore line I doubt I'd go anywhere.

If I was right on the water line, I'd probably go visit a friend up the hill a ways. I dunno I know that if a 100-200' wave was to hit hilo well... that would suck for a lot of people.

But you gotta be realistic too ... when's the last time a 100-200' wave hit hawaii?



But the tsunami was far from over. The waves hit Hilo, Hawaii, 15 hours later, killing 61 people and badly injuring 282 others. Because of a confusion over the warning siren, people returned to their homes after the first wave, only to be later caught in the deafening 20 foot wave that followed.


So I can see why they don't want people returning home too soon!

So if you use common sense and are at least a mile or more from shore I'd say you don't have much to worry about. Unless California dropped off into the ocean and caused a 5000' wave then you might as well say bye bye!

I always find it funny how sheeple react to the warnings. Relax, take a prozac and get back to bed!

[missydog1]

Evacuation seems to me one of those times our government is really trying to do the best for all of us. It hampers the whole effort if there are strays who do their own thing.

The sheep metaphor is interesting. It's when sheep unthinkingly follow other sheep who are being stupid that sheep get in trouble. Thinking that other sheep know something they don't. OTOH, the shepherd ... knows what's best for the sheep, and the sheep do just fine if they follow his guidance.

The worst place to be in a tsunami zone is in a bay, where the wave energy converges. The 1960 wave in Hilo bay was 35 feet. In 1946, Pololu Valley got hit with a 50 foot wave. I could see the part of Kaloli Point that curves around being in some danger. Because the wave is like a change in the sea level, once it gets to the cliffs, the continuing wave could easily surge over the top.

As for Kapoho Bay, we know it is barely sea level. Kapohoites are just lucky that the energy focused on the west side.

I don't think the people making decisions were trying to be over-cautious. I watched the head guy from the tsunami center tell reporters over and over -- look, there are simply not enough islands between Japan and Hawai'i to give us enough info on how to call this.

Speaking of police presence:
I don't see any reports here from Hilo, so I'll give one. I was there, and driving from Waiakea trying to get out of town to the north. I chose Kinoole, and that was the best call for low down, because that's where the roadblocks were. There were officers at EVERY intersection from Waiakea to Ponohawai.

At Ponohawai where it goes one way, I made a left and then zagged right on Kapiolani. At that point there were no cars. I continued across Waianuenue to Kaiulani, then down on Wailuku one block, over the river bridge to Wainaku, and followed Wainaku to the farthest of the two ways to get back to the highway. There were no cars at all. I was surprised. No doubt there was a concentration in old downtown, which I bypassed.

At the re-entry with the highway, there was a roadblock of 3-4 police cars. There were still cars coming from Hilo. Everything going towards Hilo was diverted mauka at that point. Given there were no officers on the route I'd just followed, it might have been confusing to anyone who doesn't know the Wainaku route, like a visitor.

The sheer number of intersections needing control in Hilo probably makes it difficult for them to cover Puna well, which is unfortunate.



"She's got everything she needs, she's an artist, she don't look back." — Dylan

[PaulW]

After the evacuation last year, where we had to spend hours in a hot car because the HPP Hui was
closed for a "private party", we decided that next time we would only evacuate if there
really was a risk of danger. Last year I knew from following the reports on the tv and internet
that the tsunami was not going to be a problem but decided to go anyway, just in case.

This year I also decided to go just in case because the evacuation happened so early - I didn't
have time to find out what the deal was and also there are few measuring points between Japan
and Hawaii.

Complying with the evacuation should be the default behavior but if people want to stay, then
they're on their own and good luck to them.

Situations like these should be used to check how the procedures went. The fact that so many
people didn't hear the sirens (in lower HPP at least) is a big worry. We left before they
sounded this time, but last year they were surprisingly loud and would definitely wake
people up - which they should, because a tsunami alert can come at any time, even in the
middle of the night. Cell phone messages can never replace that.

[missydog1]

ETA -- after reading the other topic, I realize the problem was lack of siren coverage, not broken sirens.

Hope those who didn't hear a siren will notify civil defense of the issue.

[DaVinci]

We heard them loud and clear up here in Orchidland (500' above sea level, thank you)... but I heard from a Seaview friend of mine that a long stretch of Red Road (once uninhabited, now quite populous) heard absolutely nothing, and had to be urged into action by friends living nearby. Safety net needs a bit of darning.....

[EightFingers]

We're on Makuu 1/2 block from the ocean. We heard the sirens, but weren't really sure what the sound was until we saw the warning on the news. We left, got gas, then decided to come back and get some survival supplies. We spent the night camping on our land.
Several people we know on Kaloli point stayed.

[Obie]

The highest tsunami wave in Kapoho was in 1960.It was measured at 3 feet.
Compare that to the damage in Hilo.

[KeaauRich]

I'm a firm believer that we all have the right to make our own decisions: smoke as many cancer causing cigarettes as you like, ride a motorcycle without a helmet with reckless abandon, ignore tsunami evacuation orders, etc. However, if you decide to go it on your own, then as far as I'm concerned, you are on your own...so don't expect insurance to cover your medical bills, and don't bother calling the coast guard, police or ambulance if you need evacuation or assistance. The folks who stayed behind this time (and last time...) were lucky, not smart. Had they been swept out to sea (like the house in Kealakakua) their lasting legacy would be as "the idiots who ignored the warnings and paid for their stupidity." Insurance will pay for any items stolen while a house was evacuated. Would it pay if someone ignored an evacuation order and was killed? I don't know, but I'd rather not be the one to find out...

[Carey]

UMMM.... 100 ft is OK for most tsunamis, HOWEVER the Pacific ocean has had many that far exceeded that height. Some of the highest have been generated in the Hawaii islands (one of the highest ancient tsunami was connected to landslide action creating the gulch formations.... others from underwater volcanic eruptions here)

Just to keep you on your toes, the highest recorded tsunami occurred in 1958, it was a landslide generated tsunami in Alaska, at over 1,700 feet! Most of us are not quite high enough to feel absolutely safe from a surge series that would climb that high...
Link:
http://geology.com/records/biggest-tsunami.shtml
Discovery channel video link:
ETA updating the link to all 5 of the Discovery Channel series on landslide & volcano generated tsunami:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhNHeAFdsUw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8gUlLkU-co&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KU30E1vRRu0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72CytIcWGcQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfFUN7SG7NE&feature=related