The Salami is Coming!

Life has been a little too exciting for me lately.  A week ago Friday we had a horrific storm in the early morning hours.  The wind was crazy - ripped up large trees by the roof, and knocked down countless power poles with their attached power lines.  Our power went out about 3am and was back on about 7am.  We were the fortunate ones.  Most of Ewa Beach was out of power for the weekend.  At 3:30pm Friday our local electric workers union employees went on strike, and walked off the job, leaving hundreds of families without power.

It is a miracle that no one was injured or killed when all those poles and live power lines when down.  The big hot mess was strewn all across the road.  Private companies came to the rescue and by Sunday evening all of the power was restored.  They have been cleaning up the mess and installing new poles all week.  Traffic down Ft. Weaver has been atrocious all week.

Thursday evening, while at a dinner party at church, the tragic earthquake hit Japan.  Hawaii immediately went under a tsunami watch.  All the adults were talking about the pending natural disaster, discussing ways to be prepared, like filling our gas tanks on the way home, etc.  It seems like with any natural disaster here in Hawaii, the first thing to go is the power, and all gas pumps are powered by electricity.  Thankfully I had just filled up that afternoon, at a whopping $3.89/gallon - $50 - the most it has ever cost me to fill the tank in my little car.  My friend's daughter, in all her 5 year old wisdom, was most distressed.  As her mother tried to soothe her, she exclaimed, "but the SALAMI is coming!"  Oh, if only it were a giant salami - salami makes a great sandwich.

Around 10pm the warning sirens began to blow to warn those in the flood zone to evacuate.  The one closest to us was knocked down and rendered mute by the storm the week previous.  Mother nature has brought her wrath upon us in too quick of a succession for a full recovery.  Those sirens sound exactly like the tornado sirens from my youth.  From elementary school, I have a vague idea of what to do when a tornado siren blows.  For tsunami safety you just need to get to the top of the hill, and wait ...

Thankfully the waves came and went with no damage to Oahu.  The worst I was inconvenienced was the lack of cell phone service Friday night, and several hours of much needed sleep.  Many families in the low lying areas evacuated to higher ground and spent the night much less comfortable than I.  The roads were blocked, and they were kept from their homes until we heard the "all clear" around 9am or so.

This morning I saw our little one legged bird friend out front this morning.  Amazingly, and thankfully, we are all safe and sound.