The Tsunami Countdown (7 page)

10:01 a.m
.
1 Hour and 21 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time

K
ai called Hawaii State Civil Defense and the officer on duty, a junior staffer named Brian Renfro, answered the phone immediately.
“Brian, this is Kai Tanaka over at PTWC. I need to speak to Jim Dennis.” Dennis, the vice director of HSCD, was the person
who normally made the big decisions there and coordinated all the efforts of the state’s emergency services.

“Sorry, Kai, he took the weekend to visit some friends on Kauai. It’s just me and a couple of others here today. What’s wrong?”

On a normal working day, HSCD would have up to thirty people on staff. He knew Renfro from the first semiannual training scenario
he had participated in. Renfro was a bright kid, but young, not much older than twenty-five. Kai could only hope that Renfro’s
thorough training at HSCD would prepare him for what was about
to happen. He was about to get a big dose of responsibility.

At least Renfro was in a safer location than Kai. Rather than being built three hundred yards from the ocean like the PTWC
was, HSCD was well ensconced in a bunker inside Diamond Head crater. Because Hawaii was exposed to so many different types
of potential disasters—tsunamis, hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes—the state took civil defense very seriously. Situated
inside an extinct volcano with sides over six hundred feet high, the bunker could withstand virtually any disaster nature
could dish out.

“Brian,” Kai said, “we’ve got a situation here. Did you see the bulletin we sent out earlier?”

“Sure did. What’s the problem? Are you upgrading it?”

“Yes. We’ve lost contact with Christmas Island.”

“You mean the tide gauge?”

“No, I mean the whole island, including the tide gauge.”

“When?”

“The tide gauge was supposed to give us a reading over thirty minutes ago. Since then, we haven’t been able to get in touch
with anyone on the island.” Kai took a deep breath. “We think it may have been wiped out by a tsunami.”

There was a pause at the other end of the line.

“Okay,” Renfro finally said. “Give me one minute. Then I’ll call you back. I’m going to try to get in touch with the vice
director.”

Kai hung up the phone and told Brad and Reggie what Renfro said.

“What do we do now?” Brad said.

Reggie perked up as if he just remembered something. “My God!”

“What?” Kai said.

“There’s a team of scientists on Johnston Island.”

“But I thought it was abandoned,” said Brad. “There was an article in the paper about the chemical weapons disposal facility
being shut down in 2004. Now it’s a nature sanctuary or something.”

Johnston Island, a tiny coral atoll like Christmas Island, was only about twice the size of Central Park. Until 2001, it served
as the United States’ primary disposal facility for chemical weapons, but fortunately it had incinerated its last bomb. If
this tsunami had happened before then, they might have faced the additional specter of having thousands of canisters of the
deadliest chemicals known to man washed out to sea. That was one of the few things Kai felt relieved about at that moment.

The other good news was that, now that the facility was shut down, the thirteen hundred people who manned the station had
packed up for good, with the last of them
having left in 2004. Since then, it had been operated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a wildlife preserve.

“How do you know someone’s there?” Kai said, snatching the map of Johnston Island from its bin and unfurling it on a table.

“I wanted someone to check the tide gauge there because we’ve been having intermittent signal problems,” Reggie said. “Alvin
Peters over at U.S. Fish and Wildlife said a team was there for a month doing observational studies of turtle nesting on the
island and that they could check on the equipment for me. Even gave me their sat phone number.”

A quick scan of the map showed that the maximum elevation on the island was no more than forty-four feet, not high enough
to ensure protection from a large tsunami. Kai didn’t know the state of the buildings there or whether they would be able
to stand up to the force of a tsunami. The only truly safe place was out at sea in deep water. Thank God the scientists on
the island had a phone.

“They only have ten minutes,” Kai said. “Call them right now. Let’s hope they have a boat.”

As Reggie ran to his cubicle to get the number and make the call, the office phone rang. It was Brian Renfro.

“I couldn’t get in touch with the vice director,” he said, “but I just got your tsunami warning, so I’m going to follow standard
procedure. We’re trying to contact the governor
now. The sirens will go off in a minute, and then I’ll start broadcasting our standard tsunami warning message on the EAS.
Call me back if you get any new information. Especially if it’s a false alarm.” With that, he hung up.

“So HSCD is going to evacuate?” Brad said. “You know, your daughter—my niece—is at the beach today.”

“I know. Along with a hundred thousand other people.”

“So, shouldn’t we call Rachel and Teresa and let them know?”

Kai was tempted to set aside the duties of the job and warn his own family. If everyone did that, though, the entire system—the
government, fire department, police department, emergency services—would grind to a halt. He had to trust that the warning
system in place would work. But that didn’t mean that Brad couldn’t call them.

“Try Teresa’s cell. Her battery was dying, but she still might have it on. Then call Rachel and let her know what’s happening.
All the hotels are part of the warning system, but it can’t hurt to call her anyway.” Kai handed Brad his cell phone. “She’s
busy this morning, so she probably won’t answer it unless she sees that it’s my phone number. If she doesn’t answer, choose
the pager option when you get her greeting, then dial 999. That’s our code for an emergency.” Kai had instituted the code
three years ago when Lani broke her leg playing soccer and he wasn’t been able to get Rachel to answer her phone for two hours.

Brad took the phone and went into the conference room to make the call. Reggie almost knocked him over running into the ops
center.

“I got ’em!” he said.

“The scientists? Thank God! How many are there?”

“Seven.”

“Do they have a boat?”

“No, but they have a plane. The weekly supply flight from Hawaii didn’t take the holiday off. But there’s a problem.”

Kai’s stomach sank. “With the plane? It can’t take off?”

“Oh, it can take off. In fact, they should be getting into the air in a few minutes. But it’s just a small supply plane. It
can only take five of the scientists. Two of them will have to stay behind.”

At that exact moment, Kai heard the first wail of the tsunami siren.

10:05 a.m
.
1 Hour and 17 Minutes to Wave Arrival Time

R
ealizing she could do nothing more for the Russian tour group until the interpreter arrived in about an hour, Rachel had turned
her full attention to the most important event taking place at the hotel: the governor’s veterans brunch. The event had been
under way for five minutes, right on time despite the ramp problem. Rachel stood at the back watching Governor Elizabeth Kalama
give her speech, ready to make sure any potential issues were resolved quickly and quietly.

Because Rachel’s job was all about communication, she carried a walkie-talkie and cell phone at all times. The walkie-talkie
was for in-hotel communications with the staff, and the cell phone connected her with external vendors and clients. Either
one could go off at any time. This time it was her cell phone. She had it set to vibrate mode so that it wouldn’t interrupt
the speech from the dais.

She pulled it from her belt and looked at the number. It was Kai’s cell phone. She sighed and replaced it on her belt, letting
it go to voice mail.

After another few seconds her cell phone’s pager feature went off. She picked it up again and looked at the number typed in
the display, expecting to see Kai’s cell phone number again. Instead, she saw 999. Their emergency code.

She called him back immediately.

“Kai?” she whispered. “What’s going on?”

“Rachel, it’s Brad.”

“Brad? Where’s Kai?”

“He’s busy. He wanted you to know that he just issued a tsunami warning.”

“Oh, no! Right now?”

“Yeah, you should be getting the official warning in a few minutes.”

“Oh my God! I’m at a brunch in our ballroom. The governor’s here.”

“Wait a sec.” She heard Brad in the background say, “She’s got the friggin’ governor with her.”

Kai’s voice came on the line.

“It’s me, hon.”

“So, a tsunami is really coming?”

“We don’t know for sure yet, but it looks like it.”

“Jesus! When is it supposed to get here?”

“In a little more than an hour.”

“An hour? You said that a tsunami from Alaska would take five hours to get here.”

“It’s not from Alaska.”

“A local one? The Big Island?” Rachel knew that a tsunami caused by landslides or earthquakes in the Hawaiian Islands would
take less than forty-five minutes to reach Oahu.

“No, somewhere in the Pacific. Listen, Rachel, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you soon. Here’s Brad again. Be safe.”

A raspy sound came through as the phone got passed back.

“It’s me.”

“Hey, Brad,” Rachel said, “I’ve got to get things in motion here.”

“Wait, Rachel! Does Lani have a cell phone?”

Rachel just assumed Teresa had already been warned to take Lani and Mia to safety.

“Why?” she said. “What’s wrong? Is she okay? Where is she?”

“Slow down. I don’t know. I tried calling Teresa, but all I get is her voice mail. I was hoping Lani had a cell phone.”

“No. She’s going to get a new one for her birthday.”

“Well, I’m sure they’ll hear the sirens and get to high ground.”

“Brad, make sure they’re okay. Please? I won’t have time. I’ve got to get the hotel ready.”

“Don’t worry. I got it covered.”

Brad sounded confident, but then, he always sounded confident. She just had to trust him, so she hung up and turned her attention
to her duties.

As the governor continued her speech, Rachel weaved her way through the tables of disabled vets. Because the Grand Hawaiian
was a state-of-the-art Waikiki resort, it had a well-thought-out tsunami warning plan. The hotel ran drills every three months
to familiarize the employees with the procedures in case of a tsunami. Rachel had been through two of them.

Procedure called for the first, second, and third floors to be evacuated and for all guests to be moved to a level higher
than that. The ballroom was on the sixth floor, so she wouldn’t have to evacuate anyone at the brunch.

She spotted the governor’s assistant, William Kim, with whom she had coordinated the banquet. He had been an annoyance to
her for a week now, changing every detail of the governor’s appearance five times. Giving him this news wasn’t going to be
pretty.

“Mr. Kim,” she said in a low whisper, “I need to talk to you. Right now.”

She pulled him to the side of the room.

“What is it? I’m missing the governor’s speech.”

“A tsunami might be coming.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. The tsunami warning should come out any minute. You have to tell the governor.”

“In the middle of her speech?”

“Don’t you think it might be something she’d like to know as soon as possible?”

“So the tsunami warning hasn’t been issued?”

“It has. We just don’t have the official announcement.”

“Then how do you know—”

“My husband told me. He’s the—”

“Your husband?” he said with a snotty tone. “Mrs. Tanaka, the governor is running for the U.S. Senate next year, and there
are some very important donors in the room. If I interrupt her, and you’re wrong—”

“Please, Mr. Kim, I’m not an idiot. As I was trying to say, my husband is the assistant director of Pacific Tsunami Warning
Center.”

“Fine. Come back when we get the actual tsunami warning. The governor can at least finish the speech.”

“Look, I don’t have time for this, and neither does the governor.” With that, she strode onto the stage with Kim following
her. He stopped short of holding her back, not wanting to make a scene.

As Rachel reached the podium, she thought she could
hear the faint peal of a siren through the ballroom’s insulated walls. She put her hand lightly on the governor’s shoulder.
The governor stopped her speech to look at who was interrupting her and put her hand over the microphone.

“Yes?” she said. “Who are you?”

“Governor, I tried to stop her—” Kim began.

Rachel talked over him. “Governor, I’m Rachel Tanaka, the hotel manager. A tsunami warning has been issued for Hawaii.”

“What?”

“Ma’am, my husband is Kai Tanaka, the—”

“Kai Tanaka? From the PTWC?”

“That’s right, Ma’am. You know him?”

“I met him four months ago during a tsunami drill.”

“Governor, he told me that there’s a good likelihood that a tsunami is heading this way and will be here in a little more
than an hour.”

“An hour?” Kim said, startled. Then he went on the defensive. “Governor, she didn’t tell me that—”

“Be quiet, William,” the governor said. The hush of the crowd was starting to give way to murmurs. “Mrs. Tanaka, you’re sure
about this?”

Kai might be new to the job, but he was one of the smartest people Rachel had ever met. He wouldn’t have issued the warning
if he didn’t have a good reason.

“Ma’am, my husband knows tsunamis. If he says there might be one coming, then we need to get ready.”

“I agree. William, get my car. I’ll tell the audience what’s happening and then turn it over to Mrs. Tanaka.”

“Certainly, Ma’am,” Kim said, and hurried off the stage. If he’d had a tail, it would have been between his legs. Rachel stayed
on the dais.

The governor turned back to the crowd with a somber face, and the audience fell silent immediately.

“I apologize for the interruption. I have just been informed that a tsunami warning has been issued for the Hawaiian Islands.”
A buzz ran through the crowd, and the governor raised her hands to quiet them. “Now, as you might have guessed, this will
require me to cut the speech off here so that I may attend to the emergency—”

Rachel’s walkie-talkie squawked to life, and she stepped off the dais to answer it. It was Max.

“Rachel, are you there?”

“Max, did we get a tsunami warning?”

“It just came in a few seconds ago. How did you know?”

“That’s not important. Get the book out and start following the emergency procedures. Make sure you notify the staff first.
They need to keep the guests from panicking. I’ve already informed the governor.”

“Got it.”

“Hopefully, it’s just a false alarm, so let’s make sure this goes as smoothly as possible. I’ll be down when I can.”

“But—” Max sputtered.

“The governor’s wrapping up. I’ve got to go. Just keep calm.” She replaced the walkie-talkie and stepped back onto the dais
next to the governor.

“… so I urge you to stay where you are, and Mrs. Tanaka, the hotel manager, will see to it that you are well taken care of.
Let us all pray that this is a false alarm so that we can continue with our holiday remembrances at the Hawaii State Veterans
Cemetery later this afternoon. I hope to see you there. God bless us and God bless the United States of America.”

The crowd applauded as the governor left with her gaggle of assistants, and Rachel took the podium. Hundreds of concerned
faces looked up at her. She paused to make sure she could keep her voice calm and professional.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Rachel Tanaka, the hotel manager. This tsunami warning is an unfortunate development, but
we’ll try to do our best to make you comfortable until this is over. This hotel has been designed with the latest in tsunami
safety design elements, and you are more than sixty feet above the ground here. Of course, you are free to leave if you desire,
but we recommend that
you stay where you are, enjoy our hospitality, and wait for the all-clear to sound. We will inform you about further developments
as we get them. So sit back, relax, and I’m sure this will all be over quickly.”