The Tsunami Countdown

Acknowledgements

I’d like to thank Dr Chip McCreery and Dr Stuart Weinstein at the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for listening to my wild stories and showing me around the facility. Thanks also to Delores Clark of NOAA for assisting in setting up the tour.

Much appreciation to Dr David Kriebel, professor of ocean engineering at the Naval Academy, for information about the effects of tsunamis on structures.

Thanks to Ray Lovell at Hawaii State Civil Defense for talking to me about HSCD response procedures in emergencies.

Thanks to pilot Doug Skeem for his advice on helicopters.

Thanks to my good friend Dr Erik Van Eaton for his medical expertise.

It’s great to have a brother who was an Air Force pilot, and I’d like to thank him – retired Lt Col Martin Wester field – for his help with all things military and airborne.

Susan Tunis and Frank Moretti provided invaluable input on this book at an early stage, and Machelle Allman and TJ Zecca were readers who gave the book an early boost when I needed it.

This book wouldn’t be in your hands if it weren’t for the tireless efforts of my agent, Irene Goodman, and my editor, Abby Zidle. I’m grateful for everything they’ve done.

Finally, thanks to my wife, Randi, for going on this journey with me.

Any errors in science, organizations, or geography, whether intentional or not, are mine alone. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.