Rogue Wave

Chapter 21

Honolulu had 48 minutes, but the Big Island had only 11 minutes. Brian Renfro knew it wasn't enough time to get everyone on Hawaii to 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 safety.

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. Time was so short, he didn't even want to take the time to write a script. He would wing it.

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 them the most important briefing of their lives.

"OK. Here it is. In 11 minutes, a massive tsunami will hit the south tip of the Big Island. In a little more than 30 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 15 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 there's just not 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. They knew that 80 % of the state's population was concentrated here. With this kind of crisis, the objective was to save as many as possible. There was still time to accomplish something on Oahu.

The main issue at this point was whether people would pay attention to the new warning. Certainly many would be glued to their TVs to get the latest news, but many others would have simply heard the first warning and started preparing for a normal evacuation, missing any information updates. Of course, those plans were now useless, or even worse, dangerous. Many of the evacuation maps and protocols assumed a wave from an earthquake. But this wave was going to be larger, dwarfing what was planned for.

One of the new arrivals, 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."

Hotels would now be clearing their lobbies and lower floors of guests, moving them to the fourth floor or higher. But a 200-foot high wave would come up to the 20th floor or higher, taller than many of the hotels on Waikiki. And there was no guarantee that hotels taller than that would be safe, either.

The newest hotels and office buildings were constructed to withstand anything that was within the reasonable realm of possibility, including resisting 250-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 undo structural stress on the load-bearing systems.

But no building was built to bear the impact of a 20-story wall of water. For a wave that tall, the structure would have to survive 50,000 tons of pressure, the weight of 100 fully-loaded 747s. Most buildings would be torn apart or would simply collapse when the lower floors buckled. Fleeing higher in the building 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 comprehend. 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 new arrival, Thomas Kamala. "Tom, you coordinate with Queen's Hospital. 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 500 beds, Queen's Hospital, 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 it 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 clapped his hands.

"OK, everybody. A million people are counting on us. Let's do it."

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 operate, 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.

"You're with me," said Renfro. "I need you to help me with the broadcast." Everyone in the center was familiar with how to operate the broadcast booth so that there was redundancy.

Renfro seated himself in front of the camera and nodded at Herman, who hit a few buttons and then pointed at Renfro. The red light on the camera came on, and Brian Renfro began the announcement that would make him famous across the world.

"Hello, I am Brian Renfro, duty officer at Hawaii State Civil Defense. 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 80 feet in height. We have lost contact with Christmas Island, and we know that a huge tsunami has hit Johnston Island. At 10:45 AM 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 200 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 sea-going 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 was the cause of 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 and God help us all."