Kristine's first hand experience with emergency preparedness

tsunami:  are you on high ground?

By Janelle Anderson

My sister Kristine is in the yellow shirt below.

She lives in Laie, Hawaii and goes to BYU-Hawaii.

Her house is right on the beach...

...and Saturday morning, she evacuated with her roommates

because of the tsunami warning triggered by the earthquake in Chile.

They decided to go to "higher ground."

How appropriate that that "higher ground" is the hill the temple is on

(see middle right of the picture).

Quote from Kristine: "It was really interesting seeing everybody on the hill, all the families, my professor’s families, students, and the Polynesians with their full on tarps, BBQs, and music. A lot of people had tents which I thought was really smart."

I think this picture is cool: there were men on top of the temple with cameras looking for the waves to start.

Kristine was prepared well by our mother (mom is the emergency queen). Kristine said all her roommates were teasing her about bringing so much "stuff." Kristine said, "but I didn't mind because it was true, I brought a TON of stuff but I knew if we were stranded up there we would use everything."

Having "stuff" is smart! She brought a pillow, quilt, chairs, tons of water, boatload of food, journal, school stuff, laptop, cell phone charger, $100 cash, can opener, pocket knife, first aid kit, soap, washcloths, camera, flashlight, clothes, and a tarp.

I bet she's smiling so big cuz she knows she's prepared :-)

There was even opportunity to "play." The sprinklers went off on their "campsite" and so they cooled off a bit.

So, what ended up happening? Where was the tsunami?

It didn't come. The water levels at Laie rose about a foot.

Kristine went home about 2:30pm.

But the experience was still valuable.

Kristine says: "I must say I am really grateful for this experience, seriously. I want to tell you all I have a testimony of food storage and flee bags, amen.

Dave's brother, Matt, and his family also live on the island.

They were prepared with 72-hour kits and extra water.

After the warning was lifted, they headed to the beach "to surf the big tsunami waves."

Matt says, "It was exciting, but kind of anti-climatic in a good way that there was no damage or injuries... unless you count a few fist-fights at the gas stations when people were trying to "stock up."

Good point for Matt to make: anti-climatic if you're prepared.

If you have food storage, water, a car full of gas, why fear?

When an emergency comes, will you be standing in a two hour line for food? Looking for bottled water on a shelf that's picked clean? Waiting to fill up a car at a station jammed packed?

Kristine's and Matt's experience taught me to be prepared.

Because even if a tsunami doesn't come, I'll have peace of mind.

And part of being prepared--spiritually--is getting to that higher ground.

The temple.

Laie, Hawaii temple