Maui calm as waves roll in

Surge visible, water like 2 'eggbeaters' Ñ observers

The Maui News
February 28, 2010

By ILIMA LOOMIS, Staff Writer

Fact Box DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMIS ON RECORD Major recorded destructive tsunamis since 1900 in Maui County: Aug. 17, 1906: 8.4 earthquake off Chile. No deaths, but the Maalaea wharf was damaged and McGregor Landing wharf washed away. Feb. 23, 1923: 8.3 quake off East Kamchatka. No deaths, but heavy damage in Kahului and east end of the island. April 1, 1946: 8.6 quake off Umiak Islands in the Aleutians. Fourteen deaths reported, 156 homes damaged, 77 demolished; total damage of $959,230. Nov. 4, 1952: 8.2 quake off Kamchatka. No deaths, $361,496 in damage. March 9, 1957: 8.3 quake off Aleutian Islands. No deaths. Homes and streets were swamped. May 23, 1960: 9.5 quake off Chile. No deaths, $1.27 million in damage. May 27, 1964: 9.2 quake in Prince William Sound off Alaska. No deaths, Kahului Shopping Center flooded; $52,590 in damage.

WAILUKU - Observers perched on Wailuku hillsides watched the surge of water roll into Kahului Harbor, and from above, it looked like swirling "eggbeaters" as a small tsunami struck Maui and the rest of the state Saturday.

A 3.2-foot wave rolled into Kahului Harbor at 11:47 a.m., the largest surge recorded in the state. State civil defense officials canceled a tsunami warning for Hawaii at 1:38 p.m., but ocean users were still advised to stay out of the water due to continuing unusual currents and possible sewage contamination.

At lookouts in Wailuku, observers could see the water level dropping in Kahului Harbor, followed by a surge that sent a line of whitewater up the harbor beach. A cloud of silt was visible in the harbor and grew larger with the subsequent surges, and observers saw choppy, roiling water near the harbor mouth.

In Hana, residents waiting out the tsunami on a hillside above town saw the water recede.

"The two big rocks in Hana Bay, you could see them exposed, and the pilings for the pier went down, and the reef was exposed," said state Sen. J. Kalani English, who lives in Hana. "The second surge we saw was more intense. It went farther out and the reef was more exposed, and the third one was much more intense."

The surge washed over part of Haneoo Road in Hamoa, spreading debris on the road and flooding the driveway of a nearby home, he said.

In Central Maui, Mayor Charmaine Tavares got a bird's eye view of the event aboard a Black Hawk helicopter, after the National Guard invited her to ride along on a reconnaissance mission.

"The water was being sucked out of (Kahului) Harbor," she said. "It made these swirly things with the mud and stuff, and it was really interesting. It was like two eggbeaters, and very choppy in the middle of it."

After dropping in for a closer look at the piers, Tavares said, it was apparent that the tsunami's effects didn't have an "appreciable impact" on the harbor.

The flyover also included a look at Molokai, where it was apparent that the water had receded to expose some reefs, and Kalaupapa, where the ocean did not rise past the high-tide mark. She also flew over West and South Maui.

"Everything looked normal," she said.

On Lunalilo Street above Baldwin High School, a crowd of residents had a good view of the action at Kahului Harbor, while they waited for the danger to pass so they could go back to their homes.

"We were able to see the swells going in and out," said Francine Narito, who held an umbrella for shelter from the punishing sun, while her dachshund napped on the car seat beside her.

The surge looked like a "ripple" as it moved through the harbor, she said.

Chad Toyama said he could see the effects of the surge as he kept his eye on an outcropping of rocks that juts out into the harbor in front of the Maui Beach Hotel.

"Slowly it disappeared and got covered by water," he said.

A cloud of dirt and silt formed and grew between the surges, he said. "The bottom kicked up."

Kianna Kekona also saw "brown stuff" in the harbor, and Kuulei Maddela said she watched as the water level "dropped completely."

"It rises and it goes back down," she said.

"There was a good riptide right at the entrance," Spencer Colon added.

Victoria Colon had packed the family's car with plenty of food and water for the event, along with important family documents, including birth certificates for her grandchildren and family genealogy records - "the whole works, we got it all in the back, just in case," she said.

She said she had no regrets about the steps she took to prepare for a disaster that never struck.

"Our safety comes first," she said.

Narito also said she was glad she sought high ground and stored water as a precaution, even though the wave turned out to be small.

"They compared it to the one in the '60s, and that tsunami, the water came up to the old fairgrounds," she said.

Toyama said he didn't mind hanging out with friends, watching the waves and the helicopters, while he waited for the "all clear" signal so he could head back to his job near the harbor.

"I have nothing else fo' do, eh?" he laughed.

* Ilima Loomis can be reached at iloomis@mauinews.com.

Original article URL: http://www.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/527911.html

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