Escaping the Giant Wave (12 page)

“I
loved
her,” BeeBee said. “I have her handkerchief. Pansy found it this morning.” BeeBee held the handkerchief toward Norm.

“You keep that, honey,” Norm said. “Think of my Josie whenever you use it.”

“Thank you.” BeeBee folded the handkerchief carefully and tucked it in her pocket.

“You kids saved Pansy's life,” Norm said.

“And she saved ours,” I replied. “She barked to let us know when the second wave was coming, and we hid behind a big tree.”

Norm stood with us while we waited in line. He told us that his house had been destroyed by the tsunami. “One of the firefighters helped me get down the hill,” he said. “He managed to stay afloat on a beam from the hotel during the first wave, then swam ashore and ran up the hill before the second wave hit. He found me as soon as it got light, and we came down together.”

“We saw footprints,” BeeBee said. “We knew someone else had been in the woods.”

The line moved slowly. We had not yet reached the entrance to the tent when a man with a megaphone came out and shouted an announcement: “If any of you are here to inquire about passengers on the
Elegant Empress
, please follow me.”

BeeBee, Daren, and I hurried toward the man. So did several other people who had been waiting in the line. When we were all grouped around the man with the megaphone, he said, “I have good news for you. The
Elegant Empress
was far enough away from shore that it was able to ride the tsunami waves without capsizing. All passengers and crew are safe.”

“Wasn't the ship damaged?” someone asked.

“No. The captain waited until the all-clear signal was radioed to him and then . . .”

The man kept talking, but I found it hard to concentrate on his words. They were safe! Mom and Dad were alive!

When I tuned in again, I heard him say, “The captain kept the
Elegant Empress
out until daybreak because he knew the Fisher Beach dock where he normally arrives and departs was destroyed, and he didn't want to dock someplace new in the dark. He traveled twenty miles north before he found a suitable dock that was intact. He's now landed safely, and the passengers are getting off.”

“If the phone lines are still out, how do you know all that?” BeeBee asked.

“Emergency workers have mobile radios that run on vehicle batteries, plus we have a network of ham radio operators. A TV news crew has a satellite link, and were getting reports from their helicopter too.”

When we looked for Norm to tell him our good news, we found him with a younger man.

“This is my son, Arnie,” Norm said. “He's invited me and Pansy to stay with him and his family for a while.”

“Thank you again for helping us last night,” I said. “Here's your flashlight.”

“We'll always remember you and Josie,” BeeBee said.

Even though we had known the elderly couple for only a few hours, I knew BeeBee was right. We would never forget their kindness.

An hour later, Mom and Dad arrived in a yellow school bus that had been pressed into service. Daren's parents were with them. Mom cried when she saw us, and I admit I had a lump in my throat too.

The governor declared the whole Oregon coast a disaster area. Since we had lost all of our clothes and luggage, as well as our hotel room, we decided to fly home as soon as we could. By seven o'clock that night, we had ridden to Portland and booked a flight back to Kansas.

Alexander the Greatest was glad we came home early. He rubbed around my ankles, purring his pleasure. As I poured fresh water in his bowl, Mom said, “Dad and I are proud of how you acted in an emergency, Kyle. We've decided to raise your allowance.”

All right! I did a victory dance around the kitchen.

“What about my allowance?” BeeBee asked. “I was brave too.”

“You were brave,” Mom agreed, “but Kyle's the one who made the decisions. He was responsible.”

To my surprise, BeeBee didn't argue.

With my increased wealth, I bought BeeBee a new teddy bear. I thought she'd name it Bill Junior, but she didn't. She named it Dollar Bill.

A couple of weeks later, I started seventh grade. I never did get my batting average where I wanted it, but I ended the season batting .235, which was fifteen points higher than the year before, and I made two double plays as a shortstop. I didn't learn to pop a wheelie on my scooter either, although I skinned up my arms and legs trying.

On the first day of school, my new language arts teacher assigned a report. We were each supposed to write about our summer vacation.

During lunch recess, Gary and I were kicking a soccer ball around when Daren walked toward us.

“Here comes trouble,” Gary muttered as he picked up the ball. “Let's get out of here.”

“It's okay,” I said. “He won't bother us.”

Gary looked skeptical, but I stayed where I was.

Daren stopped beside me. “Are you going to do your report on the trip to Oregon?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“If we tell everything that happened that night,” Daren said, “nobody will believe us.”

“Especially the part about you landing on the elevator tower during a tsunami. That was amazing.”

“Amazing,” he said, “but true.”

And then the really amazing thing happened: Daren Hazelton actually smiled at me. I thought Gary was going to faint.

“I'm going to call my report,‘The Terrible Trip,' ” Daren said.

“It was the worst vacation ever,” I agreed, but I knew the trip hadn't been all bad. I wasn't afraid of Daren anymore.

Thousands of people have been killed by Pacific Ocean tsunamis, and scientists fear that more giant waves will hit in the future.

The west coast of the United States is vulnerable to tsunamis because there is a nine hundred milelong crack in the earth's crust offshore. This crack can create powerful earthquakes which displace the sea floor and result in waves that travel up to six hundred miles per hour and rise to one hundred feet in height.

Tsunamis can occur at any time of the day or night, in any kind of weather condition. The first waves may reach shore within minutes after the earthquake—or they may not hit for several hours.

My research for this book included two trips to Pacific coast towns, one in Oregon and one in Washington, where I gathered tsunami information and followed the evacuation signs.

In Washington the state Emergency Management Division posts “Tsunami Hazard Zone” signs instructing people what to do in case of an earthquake. Tsunami evacuation routes are clearly marked to show coastal residents and visitors the best way to get inland, and to higher ground. Community programs seek to educate people about how to protect themselves in the event of a tsunami.

In Oregon no schools or hospitals can be built near the shore, and evacuation drills are held in many areas. Beaches have signs telling how to escape a tsunami.

There has been controversy over the best way to alert people when an official tsunami warning is issued. Some towns prefer not to use sirens because the meaning is often misinterpreted, especially by visitors. The idea of using cows came from the town of Cannon Beach, Oregon, which uses mooing instead of a siren as a tsunami warning.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio broadcasts emergency tsunami information as well as shelter locations.

Other helpful sources of information were:

Killer Wave: Power of the Tsunami,
a video produced by National Geographic in 1997

Tsunami: The Underrated Hazard
by Edward Bryant (Cambridge University Press, 2001)

Tsunami!
by Walter Dudley and Min Lee

(University of Hawaii Press, 1988)

Publications from the Washington State Emergency Management Division

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
www.noaa.gov

“Tsunami: The Great Waves”
www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/tsunami.htm

ALADDIN

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com.

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2003 by Peg Kehret

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

A
LADDIN
is a trademark of Simon & Schuster.

Book design by Daniel Roode

The text for this book is set in Bembo.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Kehret, Peg.

Escaping the giant wave / by Peg Kehret.

p. cm.

Summary: When an earthquake creates a tsunami while thirteen-year-old

Kyle is babysitting his sister during a family vacation at a Pacific Coast resort, he tries to save himself, his sister, and a boy who has bullied him for years.

ISBN 0-689-85272-X (hardcover)

ISBN 978-1-4814-4553-5 (eBook)

[1. Tsunamis—Fiction. 2. Earthquakes—Fiction. 3. Natural disasters—Fiction. 4. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 5. Bullies—Fiction. 6. Pacific Coast (Or.)—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.K2518 Es 2003

[Fic]—dc21       2002152822