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The announcement came across the television at 3:30 a.m. local time in Hawaii — get to high ground.
The announcement woke up Bev Merchep who was sleeping in a rented vacation condo in Kahana, Hawaii, on the island of Maui. Merchep of Winston explained she sleeps with a television on, and just happened to have it tuned to CNN. She caught an announcement about a tsunami headed for Hawaii after an 8.8-magnitude quake hit Chile early Saturday morning.
Merchep was quick to wake up her brother, Dick Nichols, and his wife Mo, both of Winston, and family friend Claud Miestrup, who were also staying in the condo.
“I just wanted to tell the rest of the family,” Merchep said in a phone interview Saturday with The News-Review. “I was just really curious. ... It was scary, the unknown, for us at first. We knew we had plenty of time and avoided the crowds by leaving early.”
The four vacationers left their beach-side condo in the wee hours of the morning with water, food and some clothing, just as the tsunami sirens blared their first warnings.
They headed for the Kapalua-West Maui Airport just over a half a mile from their condo. Dick Nichols had thought about what he would do if something like this were to happen, but never imagined it actually would.
“I always had it in my mind (where to go),” Dick Nichols' said. “At 4 or 5 a.m., how lucid we were, I don't know.”
Getting a jump-start on the evacuation guaranteed them a parking spot at the small airport, he said, but they were quickly joined by between 700 and 1,000 other evacuees spilling into every possible nook and cranny.
The lines for the airport's restrooms grew quickly, Mo Nichols' said, and some of the locals brought tents and music to liven up the atmosphere.
On Oahu, an island northwest of Kahana, the scheduled match-up of baseball teams from the University of Oregon and the University of Hawaii turned into a waiting game equipped with local television, sandwiches and casual games of catch.
Brian Prawitz, the news and sports director for Brooke Communications in Roseburg and the voice of the Oregon Ducks baseball team, traveled with the team as they were evacuated from the Waikiki Beach area at 8:45 a.m. They took up shelter at the University of Hawaii field and waited for the wave.
The tourists and locals ranged from almost oblivious to paranoid throughout the day, Prawitz observed. Before his evacuation, he witnessed people eating breakfast at an open-sided restaurant on the beach, as nearby workers filled sandbags and placed them near the diners' feet.
It was a surreal scene that reminded him of the Titanic, Prawitz said. Later in the day, team members went shopping for lunch and came back with tales of people fighting for food in the local grocery store.
“It got a little dicy,” he said.
Sirens sounded throughout the morning on both islands. The last came just as the waves were expected to reach the shore at about 11 a.m. local time. All eyes were on the shore but little activity could be seen.
“It is such a beautiful day,” Mo Nichols said. “It has turned out to be kind of a non-event in Maui.”
The evacuation was well managed, Merchep said. She and the Nichols' observed fire department helicopters scanning the beaches for swimmers and closing beach access roads.
Word came that the coast was clear at about 2 p.m., the travelers said, and neither party witnessed any destruction as they made their way back to their rooms. Still, the day was something that likely won't be forgotten.
“We knew this would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip and it turned out to be absolutely a one-time trip,” Prawitz said. “I don't think we could have a trip like this ever again.”
• You can reach reporter Heather Morse at 541-957-4208 or by e-mail at hmorse@nrtoday.com.
The announcement woke up Bev Merchep who was sleeping in a rented vacation condo in Kahana, Hawaii, on the island of Maui. Merchep of Winston explained she sleeps with a television on, and just happened to have it tuned to CNN. She caught an announcement about a tsunami headed for Hawaii after an 8.8-magnitude quake hit Chile early Saturday morning.
Merchep was quick to wake up her brother, Dick Nichols, and his wife Mo, both of Winston, and family friend Claud Miestrup, who were also staying in the condo.
“I just wanted to tell the rest of the family,” Merchep said in a phone interview Saturday with The News-Review. “I was just really curious. ... It was scary, the unknown, for us at first. We knew we had plenty of time and avoided the crowds by leaving early.”
The four vacationers left their beach-side condo in the wee hours of the morning with water, food and some clothing, just as the tsunami sirens blared their first warnings.
They headed for the Kapalua-West Maui Airport just over a half a mile from their condo. Dick Nichols had thought about what he would do if something like this were to happen, but never imagined it actually would.
“I always had it in my mind (where to go),” Dick Nichols' said. “At 4 or 5 a.m., how lucid we were, I don't know.”
Getting a jump-start on the evacuation guaranteed them a parking spot at the small airport, he said, but they were quickly joined by between 700 and 1,000 other evacuees spilling into every possible nook and cranny.
The lines for the airport's restrooms grew quickly, Mo Nichols' said, and some of the locals brought tents and music to liven up the atmosphere.
On Oahu, an island northwest of Kahana, the scheduled match-up of baseball teams from the University of Oregon and the University of Hawaii turned into a waiting game equipped with local television, sandwiches and casual games of catch.
Brian Prawitz, the news and sports director for Brooke Communications in Roseburg and the voice of the Oregon Ducks baseball team, traveled with the team as they were evacuated from the Waikiki Beach area at 8:45 a.m. They took up shelter at the University of Hawaii field and waited for the wave.
The tourists and locals ranged from almost oblivious to paranoid throughout the day, Prawitz observed. Before his evacuation, he witnessed people eating breakfast at an open-sided restaurant on the beach, as nearby workers filled sandbags and placed them near the diners' feet.
It was a surreal scene that reminded him of the Titanic, Prawitz said. Later in the day, team members went shopping for lunch and came back with tales of people fighting for food in the local grocery store.
“It got a little dicy,” he said.
Sirens sounded throughout the morning on both islands. The last came just as the waves were expected to reach the shore at about 11 a.m. local time. All eyes were on the shore but little activity could be seen.
“It is such a beautiful day,” Mo Nichols said. “It has turned out to be kind of a non-event in Maui.”
The evacuation was well managed, Merchep said. She and the Nichols' observed fire department helicopters scanning the beaches for swimmers and closing beach access roads.
Word came that the coast was clear at about 2 p.m., the travelers said, and neither party witnessed any destruction as they made their way back to their rooms. Still, the day was something that likely won't be forgotten.
“We knew this would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip and it turned out to be absolutely a one-time trip,” Prawitz said. “I don't think we could have a trip like this ever again.”
• You can reach reporter Heather Morse at 541-957-4208 or by e-mail at hmorse@nrtoday.com.
