The Tsunami Countdown

TWENTY-TWO

10:35 a.m.

47 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time

Honolulu had forty-eight minutes, but the Big Island had only eleven minutes. Renfro knew that many on Hawaii wouldn’t be able to reach safety, especially if they hadn’t already started to evacuate, but they had to try. And they had one advantage that Christmas Island and Johnston Island didn’t have: the Hawaiian Islands were built by volcanoes, so they were very steep. If people walked quickly or ran, they might be able to get to a safe height. Renfro realized that every second ticking away was precious. The governor was still on her way, but he couldn’t wait even the last few minutes it would take for her to arrive. He would have to make the new announcement himself from the broadcast booth.

By this time, several others on staff had made it in to help him out. But there were still only six of them, so he gathered them around to give the most important briefing of their lives.

“Okay, here it is,” he said, his voice shaking. “In eleven minutes, a massive tsunami will hit the south tip of the Big Island. In a little more than thirty minutes after that, Honolulu will be hit. I will be updating the warning immediately after I’m done here.”

One of the new arrivals, Chet Herman, spoke up. “Shouldn’t you wait for the governor—”

“No. She’ll make another announcement later, but it’ll be at least fifteen minutes before she gets here and has a script in hand. As it is, we basically have to write off the Big Island. Nobody in this room should spend any more time on it.”

There was murmuring at that.

“I know it seems heartless, but I don’t think we have enough time to coordinate anything from here. They’ll have to take the warning and do their best. We’ll concentrate on Oahu.”

Some of them nodded. With this kind of crisis, the objective was to save as many as possible. Eighty percent of the state’s population was concentrated here. There was still time to accomplish something on Oahu.

Renfro had no idea whether people would pay attention to the new warning. The previous plans that had been broadcast were now useless or, even worse, dangerous. If the populace didn’t listen to his instructions, thousands would needlessly die.

Cathy Aiko raised her hand.

“What do you want me on?” she said.

“Cathy, you need to call all the hotels and get them to evacuate the tourists. Vertical evacuation is out of the question at this point.”

The newest hotels and office buildings were constructed to withstand anything that was within the reasonable realm of possibility, including resisting 150-mile-per-hour hurricane winds with no more than a slight sway. The lower floors would allow the water from a storm surge or tsunami to pass through the building and blow out the back wall, so that the water pressure would not put undue structural stress on the load-bearing systems.

But no building was built to bear the impact of a twenty-story wall of water. For a wave that tall, the structure would have to survive fifty thousand tons of pressure, the weight of one hundred fully loaded 747s. Most buildings would simply collapse when the lower floors buckled, if they weren’t completely torn apart. Fleeing to a higher floor would be no refuge.

The obstacles to getting the population to safety in such a short amount of time were too numerous for Renfro to address. After his announcement was made, many roads would become completely jammed with vehicles, despite their pleas to flee on foot. The traffic would make it that much more difficult for emergency vehicles and buses to evacuate those who couldn’t walk.

Which led to the next problem: evacuating low-lying hospitals and nursing homes.

Renfro pointed at the last newcomer, Thomas Kamala. “Tom, you coordinate with The Queen’s Medical Center. They need to get everyone out. They might have a little more time. They won’t be hit until we get a third or fourth wave. Make sure Tripler is ready for them. You also need to alert all of the nursing homes.”

With over five hundred beds, The Queen’s Medical Center, located next to the Capitol building in downtown Honolulu, was the largest medical facility on the islands. Many ICU patients and premature babies would be on life support, not to mention the surgeries that were under way. They would all have to be moved to Tripler Army Medical Center, which thankfully sat on a small plateau northeast of Pearl Harbor. The patients who were not critical would have to be moved by bus, along with nursing home patients who were too feeble to move on their own. Others would have to be moved by helicopter.

The military presence on Oahu would be especially helpful in this crisis. The fleet of Army, Navy, and Air Force helicopters—as many as could get off the ground before the first wave arrived—and the numerous commercial helicopters on the islands would be pressed into service to evacuate the hospital patients and others who couldn’t get to safety in time.

“Michelle, you’re in charge of coordinating with the military. Get the bases around Pearl evacuated and get as many aircraft into the air as you can. We’ll need the helicopters badly, I’m guessing. The other planes can go up to Wheeler.” Wheeler Army Airfield was in mid-island Oahu. Not knowing exactly how big the waves would get, even Wheeler might not be safe, but it was the only option.

“Ronald, you’re in charge of the airports, Honolulu International in particular. Even though the Kahului Airport is on the north side of Maui, it’s also in danger because the wave will wrap around the island. You need to get everyone out of the airports. If there are planes all ready to go, get them in the air. But they don’t have time to start boarding. We don’t want to have them standing on the runway when the wave gets here.”

“What about the planes coming in?” Deakins said.

“If they don’t have the fuel to turn back to the mainland, they need to land at Wheeler. I don’t want anything landing at the commercial airports after ten minutes from now.”

Renfro got up, and except for Chet Herman the group dispersed.

“What about me?” Herman said.

Renfro paused. The equipment in the broadcast room was designed to be easy to use, but he still needed to have someone operate it while he was on air. The current warning was on a loop, and he would have to break in.

“I need you to help me with the broadcast,” Renfro said.

Renfro seated himself in front of the camera and clenched his hands tightly on his knees. He nodded at Herman, who hit a few buttons and then pointed at Renfro. The red light on the camera came on, and Renfro began the announcement.

“Hello, I am Brian Renfro, duty officer at Hawaii State Civil Defense.” He cleared his throat. “A tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Pacific, including the Hawaiian Islands. I am here to update that warning. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center now has clear evidence from a deep-sea buoy that a massive tsunami is headed toward Hawaii. When it makes landfall, the tsunami is expected to be over eighty feet in height. We have lost contact with Christmas Island, and we know that a huge tsunami has hit Johnston Island. At 10:45 a.m. local time, the wave is expected to make landfall at the southern tip of the Big Island. It will hit Oahu and Honolulu at 11:22 this morning. The wave arrival times for the other islands will be scrolling across the bottom of the screen. If you are listening to this on the radio, the arrival times will be broadcast at the end of this announcement.”

He took a deep breath to steel himself for what he would say next.

“Larger waves may follow. Again, there is a strong possibility of multiple waves, and the first wave may not be the largest wave. The biggest wave could reach over two hundred feet in height. Therefore, we are urging all residents of the Hawaiian Islands to immediately leave their present locations and evacuate as far inland as possible. If you are already in a seagoing vessel, do not return to shore. Get as far out in the ocean as you can.”

At this point, he decided not to mention the asteroid. Without proof, he couldn’t be sure that people would take the warning seriously if he told them that an asteroid strike had caused the tsunami.

“If you have evacuated to the upper floors of a building, you are not safe. Please leave the building immediately and walk to high ground. Only those who are incapable of walking should take vehicles.

“Please do not panic. If you begin to walk now, you will have time to get to high ground. When we have further information, we will broadcast a new warning. But do not stay by your television. Take a portable TV or radio with you as you evacuate. Authorities will be assisting the evacuation.

“Good luck. That is all.”