Area residents share the scene in Hawaii – News-Herald.com
By Janet PodolakJPodolak@News-Herald.com
Local folks trading the Ohio winter for the beaches of Hawaii got little sleep Thursday night as they awaited the tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake which hit 3,800 miles away under the sea off Japan.
“Sirens have been going off every hour for three minutes since 10 o’clock last night,” said Christy Theis at 6:45 a.m. Hawaii time, on Friday. “We heard about the earthquake last night about 9 p.m. and haven’t had much sleep since then.”
She and her husband Jesse live near Hanalei, on the westernmost Hawaiian island of Kauai, where they moved from Chagrin Falls five years ago. Kauai was the first of the islands to be struck by the tsunami.
“We live on high ground and are in no danger. But those in the inundation zone have been evacuated and are still not allowed to go back to their homes,” she said.
“The tsunami was supposed to hit here at 3 a.m. but the first waves came ashore maybe a half hour after that.”
Theis, who has an accounting business on Kauai, said the islands experienced an earthquake on Thursday morning and the volcano on the Big Island has been active for several days.
The islands are in the middle of the so-called “Ring of Fire,” a large geographical area of earthquakes and volcanos extending north from the Philippines to Alaska, Hawaii, the western United States and south to Chile.
Power on Kauai was not affected, Theis said, but residents were told to stay away from the shore.
Tsunami waves were expected to wrap around all the islands and continue for several hours. Shoreline roads were closed.
Meanwhile on Maui, three islands away to the southeast, Tom and Libby Hill from Painesville were also on high alert much of the night. Continued…
Their home is on high ground but they said those at hotels along the shore had been moved to higher floors. Those viewing the News-Herald’s Facebook page could see Hill’s posts as the tsunami waves were coming ashore.
“Rather than a big wave, this tsunami is bringing an increase in sea levels, much like the ebb and flow of tides only faster,” Tom wrote.
Officials said the tsunami moved from offshore Japan through the vast Pacific Ocean at 500 mph.
The Hills, who arrived on the island March 1, stay at the condo they purchased in 1999 at the Masters at Kaanapali Hillside. The Kaanapali shore, on the northwest side of the island, has a three-mile-long beach lined with hotels and condo communities.
The Hills usually stay for two or three weeks, he said. “But this year we decided it was time for us to take a month and let our staffs at the karate school and my office run things,” he wrote. “I’m able to stay on top of my business via computer and cell phone.”
He operates Thomas Hill Investments in Painesville while Libby runs Family Karate in Mentor.
“Lahaina was just hit by a 9-foot wave,” Libby Hill posted at about 8 a.m. Hawaii time. (1 p.m. Friday in Cleveland). “The all-clear signal has not yet sounded.”
Tom reported that the wave washed over the seawall on Front Street in Lahaina, the historic whaling town where Waite Hill Mayor Art Baldwin’s relatives settled in the early 1800s as missionaries from New England. The popular waterfront restaurant, Cheeseburger in Paradise, had water lapping at its door, he wrote.
Libby wrote that “dingbats are heading toward the beach even though they’ve been warned to stay away.” She said a strong undertow could pull them out to sea.
By Janet PodolakJPodolak@News-Herald.com
Local folks trading the Ohio winter for the beaches of Hawaii got little sleep Thursday night as they awaited the tsunami generated by a magnitude 8.9 earthquake which hit 3,800 miles away under the sea off Japan.
“Sirens have been going off every hour for three minutes since 10 o’clock last night,” said Christy Theis at 6:45 a.m. Hawaii time, on Friday. “We heard about the earthquake last night about 9 p.m. and haven’t had much sleep since then.”
She and her husband Jesse live near Hanalei, on the westernmost Hawaiian island of Kauai, where they moved from Chagrin Falls five years ago. Kauai was the first of the islands to be struck by the tsunami.
“We live on high ground and are in no danger. But those in the inundation zone have been evacuated and are still not allowed to go back to their homes,” she said.
“The tsunami was supposed to hit here at 3 a.m. but the first waves came ashore maybe a half hour after that.”
Theis, who has an accounting business on Kauai, said the islands experienced an earthquake on Thursday morning and the volcano on the Big Island has been active for several days.
The islands are in the middle of the so-called “Ring of Fire,” a large geographical area of earthquakes and volcanos extending north from the Philippines to Alaska, Hawaii, the western United States and south to Chile.
Power on Kauai was not affected, Theis said, but residents were told to stay away from the shore.
Tsunami waves were expected to wrap around all the islands and continue for several hours. Shoreline roads were closed.
Meanwhile on Maui, three islands away to the southeast, Tom and Libby Hill from Painesville were also on high alert much of the night.
Their home is on high ground but they said those at hotels along the shore had been moved to higher floors. Those viewing the News-Herald’s Facebook page could see Hill’s posts as the tsunami waves were coming ashore.
“Rather than a big wave, this tsunami is bringing an increase in sea levels, much like the ebb and flow of tides only faster,” Tom wrote.
Officials said the tsunami moved from offshore Japan through the vast Pacific Ocean at 500 mph.
The Hills, who arrived on the island March 1, stay at the condo they purchased in 1999 at the Masters at Kaanapali Hillside. The Kaanapali shore, on the northwest side of the island, has a three-mile-long beach lined with hotels and condo communities.
The Hills usually stay for two or three weeks, he said. “But this year we decided it was time for us to take a month and let our staffs at the karate school and my office run things,” he wrote. “I’m able to stay on top of my business via computer and cell phone.”
He operates Thomas Hill Investments in Painesville while Libby runs Family Karate in Mentor.
“Lahaina was just hit by a 9-foot wave,” Libby Hill posted at about 8 a.m. Hawaii time. (1 p.m. Friday in Cleveland). “The all-clear signal has not yet sounded.”
Tom reported that the wave washed over the seawall on Front Street in Lahaina, the historic whaling town where Waite Hill Mayor Art Baldwin’s relatives settled in the early 1800s as missionaries from New England. The popular waterfront restaurant, Cheeseburger in Paradise, had water lapping at its door, he wrote.
Libby wrote that “dingbats are heading toward the beach even though they’ve been warned to stay away.” She said a strong undertow could pull them out to sea.