It all started out as a regular Saturday night. Jason and I
were in for the evening and were watching a movie. We just finished dinner and
I was about ½ way through mixing up a batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Ironically we were watching “Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World.”
I didn’t feel a thing, but Jason noticed our house was
shaking. This happens sometimes when we do laundry . . . so I was still not
convinced. Then he pointed out the car keys swaying on the key rack. He looked
online at the weather report which stated that there was a 7.7 earthquake in
Western Canada and that we needed to evacuate.
We didn’t hear the warning siren yet, and weren’t sure if we
actually needed to evacuate but we decided better safe than sorry and started
packing the car with food, water, blankets and warm clothes. We were out the
door in the car in about 5 minutes.
We stopped at the neighbor’s house. They were outside
talking with others about what to do. They have lived here much longer and didn’t
seem to be as worried. They said it had been 20 years since the last Tsunami
warning here in Met and unless we heard the siren, we should just stay put.
We decided to join some friends at the housing behind the
school because it’s much higher ground than our house – which is RIGHT on the
water. As we were driving there the siren went off. And I think that is when
both of our stomachs sank a bit.
We drove to Yellow Hill, which is the Tsunami Evacuation
Area for our Island. We beat the Fire Department, Police, and most of the town
there. Parked the car and waited. Soon the whole town was there. Some people
were taking about hiking up the hill while others just sat in their cars and
stayed warm. We decided to hike up with our friends.
At the top, people were making bon fires and hanging out. It
was a beautiful night with a full moon. Thankfully there was no rain – but a
few snow flurries. We stayed at the top for about an hour or so. Yellow Hill
has a beautiful view of the town and the ocean. We kept waiting to see the town
get swept out to sea. Thankfully that never happened. We joked that this was
the first “survival club” meeting.
It was interesting the tid bits of information that people
were getting via text messages and smart phones. Luckily the top of yellow hill
is one of the few places we get 3G on our island. If only the phone lines weren’t
tied up from EVERYONE trying to use them. It was also interesting what people
brought up the mountain with them. Lots of teachers brought their pets, some
people packed water and food, and a few people packed their rifles on their
back.
After an hour or so we headed back down and waited in the
warm car for a while longer until we were aloud to head back into town. On the
way back down the hill people were all in good spirits, but tired. Jason was
his normal optimistic self and was rewarded by finding $10 on the trail back
down to the car. I think it was God’s way of saying good job for taking care of
your pregnant wife, although I think he deserved a lot more than $10 – he did a
great job.
We got home, finished our movie, had a bowl of ice cream and
thanked God before we went to bed. And then again when we woke up in the
morning and hadn’t been washed out to sea. Alaska sure has many ways of making
you reflect on life . . .
Here we are on top yellow hill keeping warm.
