Tsunami

Yesterday there was an 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan, which put Hawaii and sever other pacific islands on tsunami watch. Around 9 or 10 is when the decision was made to put us on a tsunami warning. At that time my cousins Britt and Devin who live on the 2nd floor in TVA housing called and told me to pack up because we were headed to Kailua. Unfortunately Kailua was also evacuated the the traffic was so backed up we wouldn't have made it down. I also think they closed the roads. So, instead we went to foodland to get some water, food, and cash. We arrived at foodland around 1030 however foodland had closed. We then went to tacobell where kelly and sean were getting food, as they were ordering tacobell also closed. Directions were given for all islands of Hawaii to evacuate to 100 feet inland from shore, and 50 feet above sea level. The decision was made to go back to TVA, there we washed and filled the bathtub with water, filled several water bottles, jugs, pots, and pans with water. Britt and I came back to my house to collect food such as canned beans, tuna, and peanut butter. We then went back to TVA and on the way were contemplating dropping by the pool to get the first aid kits, AED, life guard tubes, and possibly the rescue surfboards. By this time it was roughly 1am. As we sat and charged our phones and computers we watched the news, it was predicted to hit between 3 and 330 am. Around 240 we decided that we were not high enough and we went to the hill behind the temple along with most of Laie, Hau'ula, and others. On our way Devin had the feeling to check on the people he home teaches. We brought them along with us, and hiked up the hill. We then sat on the hill for a very long time, watching, listening, and waiting. around 3 am we got a call from auntie Katie in Kailua and told us the waters were receding in Kaui. This was probably the most tense time, just sitting and waiting and trying so hard to listen to the ocean. It was the strangest sensation, there were hundreds of people in the same place but it was dead silent. Everyone straining to hear and see the ocean, wondering what was going to happen. Around 4 am when we weren't sure if anything was happening I fell asleep for a bit, when I awoke we decided to go to TVA, we arrived back at TVA around 430am exhausted and scared we tried to go to sleep around 5 am. Which is when the calls and texts started rolling in from the rest of the world that had just woken up to see what had happened in the night. I put my phone on complete silent and slept for roughly 4 hours when I woke up to see if anything had happened. Luckily we hadn't been hit at all, however, BYUH decided that because our school wasn't destroyed we were still going to hold class. We are the only school on Oahu that held class today. Luckily both of my classes were cancelled seeing as one of my professors was stuck on gunstock ranch till 8am, and the other hadn't slept at all, just like the rest of us. I think it was very unwise to hold school today. There several hundred students here from Japan and other pacific islands that still haven't heard from their families, not to mention that there is no way anyone on the entire island slept last night. They also opened PCC, which doesn't make any sense because the road that leads to and from PCC is right on the ocean, and while we are under tsunami advisory they tell us to stay away from.
Parts of last night that were left out from the general information.
1. Laie is on the North side of Oahu, there is one road to and from the North side. It's kamehameha highway, and this road follows the coast. Very closely. In fact the drive is beautiful but when there are big waves they wash up onto the road. Which means in the event of a tsunami you can either stay where you are and try and hit the hills and hope and pray you are high enough, or you can chance the traffic and hope and pray you make it off kam highway before the tsunami hits. Most of this highway is literally 5-10 feet away from the ocean. There are no houses between you and the ocean. It is the road, about 3 feet of sand or rocks, and then the ocean. Because of how the roads and electricity are set up when we have big storms we are isolated, the road is not safe to travel on and no one can reach us. Often the electricity shuts off, the yards flood, and the waste backs up and dumps into the ocean and onto the beaches and streets. This is just a storm. If a tsunami were to happen we really would be isolated for quite some time. Also during a tsunami they shut down the water mains because they will become contaminated and quite possibly explode. This is why getting so much water ready was so important. if something were to happen we need to be prepared to be on our own without running water or electricity for a few days.
2. The superstition of animals and stars. While we were headed to TVA the first time we saw a polynesian man standing outside looking at the sky, we asked him if he thought we would be ok at TVA, he then mentioned that we should be fine because you can see the stars. The moon was hidden behind the clouds, and when I asked him about it he said it was fine because all the moon affects is the tide. That is as far as our conversation went, until we were getting ready to leave for the temple hill when we saw him leaving as well. He simply looked at us and said "the stars are gone". It was true, there were no clouds blocking the stars but for some strange reason you couldn't see the stars. Secondly animals. As we were driving to the hill we saw a family loading up with 2 dogs. These dogs did NOT want to get in the car. They both had their ears flat against their backs and tails down as if they were scared. This poor family was trying everything they could do to get the dogs in the car. The kids were in the back of the truck with treats holding onto one dog who was crouched/laying in the bed of the truck looking like he was getting ready to bolt for his life and the other dog was being picked up by the dad trying to put him in the back with the other dog and kids. This dog just didn't want to get in, you could tell he was doing the rag doll where they drag their legs and kinda shrug back away from what ever you're trying to get them to. When we finally got up to the hill and Britt decided we were sufficiently high enough I noticed this man with a puppy next to us. This puppy was acting like a normal puppy and sitting on the owners feet, trying to be a good dog and pay attention but alas puppies have poor attention spans and would quickly go from sitting and paying attention to rolling around in the grass or play with the mans shoelaces; until 3am. When suddenly the dog started whimpering and crawled under the mans legs and laid down.
3. No one tells you what it feels like when you're packing your stuff to evacuate and you have to decide what you're leaving behind. It is so strange when you're packing a backpack and thinking ok, what do I need to live for 3 days, and what do I have to have if everything else disappears. Passport, wallet, water, food, phone, phone charger, computer, computer charger, underwear, jacket, first-aid kit, deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste. And the rest of your life you just sit there and look at as you realize how much money you have spent on worthless things. Realizing that everything you have collected could quite possibly not be there in a few hours. It's surreal thinking in that mindset, part of you says that nothing will happen, just move your stuff off the ground. While the in the back of your mind you have to think and face the reality that there will be no home to "come home" to if it really happens.
That is the current update on  my life

This was a 2 story vacation rental house in Kona