The Tsunami Countdown

FOURTEEN

10:07 a.m.

1 Hour and 15 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time

Teresa had just dozed off, soothed by the warm sand and light breeze from the ocean. When the warning siren went off, it startled her so much that the book resting on her hand went flying and landed next to an elderly couple sitting in beach chairs five feet away. She sat up and looked around to see where the sound was coming from. After a few seconds she spotted a bright yellow siren atop a pole a few hundred feet along the beach. The wail rose and dropped in pitch, reminding her of the air raid sirens she had heard in movies.

The man in the chair rose and picked up the book. Although he wore a hat and had slathered his nose with zinc oxide, the poor guy was only another hour from a severe sunburn on the rest of his body. He handed the book to her.

“Here you go,” he said with a thick southern drawl. “You look pretty surprised.”

“I was taking a nap,” she said. “What the hell is that?”

“Yeah, I wonder what the heck is going on. We getting bombed by the Japs again? And on Memorial Day too.” He laughed at what he thought was a good joke.

Teresa didn’t smile back. “Maybe it’s some kind of drill.”

“Oh, yeah, tsunami warning test. I read about that on the plane over here from Mississippi. Hattiesburg is where we’re from. Never been out to Hawaii before. Wanted to read all about it. Couldn’t get Eunice here to read a bit of the book. Said she just wants to relax.”

“Did they have to schedule it for the middle of the morning?”

“Don’t know. Thought the book said it was sometime around the beginning of the month. Maybe I didn’t read it right.”

The siren continued to wail. Teresa thought it would go off after just a minute, but the minute passed. It didn’t stop.

“Darryl,” Eunice said, “what is that siren?” She picked up a radio that had been at her side and nervously twiddled with the knobs.

Darryl patted her reassuringly. “It’s a tsunami warning. Don’t worry about it, Eunice.”

Teresa scanned the beach; few of the other beachgoers even seemed to notice the siren. Most of them went on with whatever they were doing: playing, sunbathing, swimming. The siren seemed to have no effect on them, except that she saw several small children with their hands over their ears.

“That’s funny,” said Eunice. “The radio just said there was a salami warning. I thought that meant there was something wrong with the lunch meat on the island.”

“It’s just a test. And it’s tsunami, not salami. You know, a tidal wave.”

“They didn’t say it was a test. It just keeps repeating.”

Teresa walked over to the radio to hear it for herself. An even, measured male voice issued from the ancient-looking device. She supposed the voice was intended to convey a sense of calm about the situation, to prevent panic, but she thought it seemed mechanical, too detached, as if he were describing the potential for afternoon showers.

“… warning for the Hawaiian Islands. This is not a drill. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center has advised that a destructive tsunami may be approaching the coastline of Hawaii. Evacuation procedures are under way. It is recommended that you move to high ground immediately. All Hawaii telephone books include maps that show evacuation routes and safe areas under the section called ‘Disaster Preparedness Info.’ The earliest arrival time for the tsunami is listed as follows: For the Big Island, the wave arrival time is approximately 10:44 a.m. For Maui, Lanai, and Molokai, the wave arrival time is approximately 11:14 a.m. For Oahu, the wave arrival time is approximately 11:22 a.m …”

Teresa fumbled through her purse to get her watch. It was 10:08 a.m. Only an hour and fourteen minutes until the tsunami arrived.

“… For Kauai, the wave arrival time is 11:35 a.m. Please follow all instructions given by your local authorities.” A brief pause; then: “This is a tsunami warning for the Hawaiian Islands. This is not a …”

The message began to repeat.

Teresa felt her stomach go cold. “It’s not a test,” she said.

“Are you sure?” Darryl said.

She shook her head. “It wouldn’t repeat. It would end with a message saying that it was only a test, and the siren would shut off.”

“You mean there’s a real tidal wave coming?” Eunice said, alarmed at the prospect. “What should we do?”

“Is your hotel nearby?”

“Yeah,” Darryl said, “it’s that big one over there. The Hilton.” He pointed to a thirty-story building.

“What floor is your room on?”

“The twentieth.”

“Good. Go back to your hotel room until they say it’s over.”

“You should come with us. Got plenty of room. Maybe even order up some room service.”

“I can’t. I have to find my daughter and her friend.”

“Oh, my goodness, dear,” Eunice said. “You don’t know where they are?”

Teresa felt stung by the comment, even though she didn’t think Eunice meant it as an criticism of her parenting skills.

“No. They went shopping.”

“What store?” Darryl said.

Teresa shook her head. She pointed toward Diamond Head. “They went that way.”

“How will you find them? They have a cell phone?”

Teresa was feeling worse as a mother by the minute. She had let her daughter go off to who-knew-where without any way of communicating with her. She didn’t do anything differently from what a thousand other parents on this beach would have done. But the thought that she wasn’t the only person who had lost track of her kids didn’t make her feel any better.

Teresa put on her sarong and tank top. “No, they don’t have a cell phone,” she said, her voice cracking from worry. “And my cell phone battery is almost dead anyway.”

Eunice put a hand on Teresa’s shoulder. “I’m sure they’ll come back, dear, now that they’ve heard the sirens. We still have over an hour.”

Teresa nodded in agreement. The best thing for her to do was stay calm and stay where she was. If she left in search of them, she would surely miss them. And if they returned while she was gone, they might do something stupid, like go in search of her.

All she could do was pace back and forth along the sand, straining to see any sign of her daughter.