Tsunami Warning

View of ocean from our mountain high place

We had just finished our seminary scripture mastery class and arrived home when we got a call from one of the Elders telling us that a Tsunami warning for all of the Pacific Islands was issued because of the earthquake that had just shaken Japan with an 8.9 earthquake.  He told us that we needed to get some water, food, weather protection items and some clothes and meet them at their apartment.  He actually found out about the tsunami because his own father heard about it (in Arizona of all places) and was able to call and tell him to get a hold of the mission office and find out what there plans were for us.  It was such a surprise as we had not heard about it or even felt any tremors.  We are thankful that he called because we were then able to call the mission home and we found out that they hadn't been able to get in touch with us.  They said to go to higher ground right away.  There was an evacuation plan that we were to follow, but we sure did not know of any such plan.  What a blessing it was to have the Elders who knew what we were to do. We followed the Elders on this dirt road that led up the mountain to where there was a water packing plant. As all dirt roads are here in Kosrae, it was very narrow and filled with chuck holes. It was a very high area, almost to the top of the mountain, and we felt so safe up there.  All four of us stayed there for the entire night because our radio kept saying that the warning was still in effect.  When the first light of morning appeared we decided to go back down as the radio said it was safe again.  In the end, the tsunami never did hit our island and were we glad about that.

Here is the mountain that we were on and it is easy to see that we were very near the top.  I think that this was one of the highest places that we could have gone for safety and not too many other people even came up there.  Maybe it had to do with the fact that the road was not so good to travel on or that it took us a while to reach it.  Later the next day we drove around and looked at some of the other sites that people used for safety.  There were certain areas suggested by the government for people to use  None were as high as where we went, but they probably would have worked.  They were much more crowded.

This view was taken from the top of a hill by the courthouse in Tofol.  It was another good spot that people could go to escape tsunamis.  It was not nearly as high as the one the mission told us to use, but it worked for many people. Transportation is always a problem here and many people had to depend on friends, family or neighbors to help take them to safety.