It was 7am here, I know because as the phone rang so did the bells not just at one church because no one church can be outdone by the other. I heard my husband chatting, obviously with someone familiar to him, but difficult to detect between the stone walls with bells clanging (here bells clang, more like a series of cowbells in the alps than church bells. In this part of the world at Latitude 20, no social calls are made at 7am any day of the week. Curiosity got the best of me and since the mornings are a bit warmer, I decided it was possible I could to get myself out of bed, grab a cup of coffee and find out what was happening at this hour.
My husband gave me hand signs, which immediately let me know it was our son, who was currently positioned in Volcano Village (approximately 4000ft. elevation) on the Big Island of Hawaii where it was only 3AM. We all claim our various positions on Latitude 20 , and this morning he was by chance minutes away from Hilo Harbor. He has great timing and he is also our warning system. He knew our location was safe but he was concerned for his older sister, who was on the same island and shared the same time zone, currently 3AM but was fast asleep in a tsunami inundation area. Of course, he was not inclined to be the one to wake her, so we got the first call. Minutes later and two tries at a response, she was out her door (in her pajamas) and headed for higher ground. Mom’s know how to get action. Of course she had hours before any tsunami would arrive in the Hawaiian Islands, but we left that part out as we were being proactive.
Once we knew she was in motion our thoughts immediately turned to the many guests that were staying in our vacation rental units along the coast. I can’t imagine waking up to the sirens, it’s one thing when you are sound asleep in a city, sirens are acceptable, but not in the sleepy coastal villages on the Big Island….that’s a shock…..We do our best to make every island experience a good one and we certainly wanted this experience to be as smooth as possible under the circumstances. So next wake up call was to our business partner, who had fallen asleep the evening before quite comfortable that an earthquake as far away as Chile was nothing to worry about.
Our great staff reached every one of our guests to advise them that they would need to evacuate, long before the sirens began. They directed them to higher elevations and once they arrived, they directed them to restaurants and activities, which turned what could have been a harrowing experience into another Big Island Adventure……..life is always interesting along latitude 20………..come join us!
Living your best life on Latitude 20 