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Published: February 27th 2009
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Uncle Billy
Good place for take-out groceries for breakfast and lunch. Our first free day, a Friday, dawned pleasant and clear. Ann signed up to go to the Tsunami Museum. Her group left around 9:30 and I left for the helicopter ride about 10.
We got our breakfast at Uncle Billy's General Store.
Ann and her group of ten met Allen Crawford, accountant for the Lyman Museum. He led them through the small tsunami museum in one of the downtown banks. They saw a video showing the before and after scenes related to where the tsunami hit Hilo almost fifty yeas ago.
The Hawai'ian Islands are the capitol of the world in many different ways. They have the most endangered species. Hilo is the rain capitol of the world, having the highest average rainfall of any city. They also have more tsunamis than any place in the world.
Being near the center of the Pacific, every tremor that hits the Pacific rim countries or within the Pacific itself sends waves toward Hawai'i. Most dissipate before making an impact there. Of the many that had some impact, the one in 1960 seriously damaged or destroyed a good bit of Hilo and killed over sixty people.
The biggest waves
Hilo from the north
Our plane flew in along the shore line where the 1960 tsunami came in came in from the north and swept down the bay flooding the downtown east of the line of the shore. The industrial, business, and residential areas of east central Hilo were destroyed by a thirty-five foot wall of water and smaller waves, two before and several after.
Mr. Crawford lived in that area. When the first wave hit, it brought in so many fish that he wanted to go and bring some home to eat. Being twelve years old, he had a smart strategy. But his dad realized more waves were coming. That first wave had damaged the house enough that the doors were wedged too tightly to be opened. The family crawled out through a break in the wall caused by the movement of the house off its foundation. Linking arms, his dad pulled his sister and mother along as fast as he could. Young Crawford was running uphill ahead of them when the second wave swept in. They stayed just ahead of it. A large tree high on a hill became their refuge. Allen climbed up into the branches. His dad pushed his sister and mother up into the tree as the third and largest wave struck.
His father grabbed onto the tree and held on for dear life. The water swirled and rose up to his chest before receding, allowing him to climb up too.
The family stayed up in the tree for another two hours before gaining confidence that no more waves were coming. (Four did come while they waited).
Many of the areas where the damage occurred are now parklands. The downtown has developed to the west. And the city has set up a sophisticated tsunami early warning system.
Ann said the tour and museum were a very moving and disturbing experience. She was glad she went.
She regrets not getting pictures.
I had the camera on the helicopter flight.
One of the curses of a camera is that it can only be in one place at a time.
I tried to get some pretty good shots of the volcano and some of the sights from the air.
When I was in High school, I had the chance to ride with a Civil Air Patrol guy who needed to put in some flying time. We flew out of Waukesha Airport over toward Menominee Falls. The Piper
Australian Pine
Imagine dozens of these lined up to protect nut orchards Cub was not a rough ride, fortunately. But I was still very edgy. We got as far as Brookfield where we could see a baseball diamond which had some players on it. The pilot decided to circle down fairly steeply to watch a bit of the game. That was too much for me and I forced back my lunch and croaked out that we should head back. There was no bag so we were lucky we made it back to the airport without a mess.
So I was very nervous about the helicopter. It had a large amount of glass around the pilot and passengers and I prefer having solid stuff around me when I'm high in the air. I could easily imagine doing the down spiral and not keeping my breakfast.
I pretended this was old hat and went through all the motions that everyone else went through. They all seemed very comfortable. Little did they know.
The pilot was very reassuring and showed us where the emergency stuff, including a bag, was stowed. He lifted off the ground like he knew what he was doing and headed west toward our closest working volcano, Kilaueia. We
Steam vents ahead
Click on picture to see vents passed over macadamia plantations where large fields of trees lined into squares by windbreak Australian Pines.
He pointed out that all of the houses below us had to use rain water as their water supply because there was none underground nor city water piped in. Drilling very far down would melt the bit and maybe open a vent for lava! Molten lava is not typically used for washing dishes or bathing.
We flew toward steam vents showing the line down which lava was flowing in a "tube" to the ocean.
The landscape over which we flew was a mixture of lava flows cooled and aged over the ground surface from the caldera to the sea. The black was most recent, the brown older and slightly oxidized. These flows went among patches of trees and over roadways and around a house here or there. One house in the middle is a working bed-and-breakfast whose customers come in by helicopter.
The most startling feature visible to us was a "window" through which we could actually see lava flowing.
The inside of the volcano was covered with mist through which we flew (scary!) and other possible "windows" were
similarly covered with white fumes through which we could not see inside the lava tube.
The pilot turned down to the ocean where the water and molten rock mixed, adding new land to the island. We came over the spot we had seen from a distance the day before. And the pilot tipped the nose down and spiraled toward that confluence. I was so fascinated by the colors of the sea and how the steam rose that I didn't reach for the bag. No one else did either. We are a brave lot!
Having scoped out the confluence from several angles, the pilot headed us back toward Hilo, going over the observation area where we had stood the night before.
To our left as we approached the airport are Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea, the "long mountain" and the "white mountain." Geologist say that the base of each volcano is around 20,000 feet below sea level. They both protrude from the ocean by over 14,000 feet. If they stood on the earth's surface next to Mount Everest, they would stand taller by around a mile.
Ann and I met back at the hotel and decided to
call Hilo Hattie's and get a shuttle ride to their store. They said their shuttle driver had had to go home.
Before going upstairs, a friend took our picture and the camera started acting funny.
The only way I had to recharge its battery was with a cable from my computer to the camera. I had the cable but my computer was in Florida. Even so, I lucked out. Computers in the lobby, available for a price to go on line, were powered up. The USB port was live and the camera drank of the juice for hours! Ann got a nap upstairs and I talked at great length with folks who sort of took turns keeping me company. Bummer for them!
Ann and I went to supper at the Uncle Billy's Restaurant (next door to the Uncle Billy General Store). Food was very fine and not too pricey. The two-man band and their two-woman hula line were good musicians and dancers. They did the ukulele/guitar accompaniment (live) and the falsetto harmonies. I've never been one to go out of my way for Hawai'ian music before but we enjoyed the evening.
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Marty
non-member comment
Who wouda thought?
A simple innocent typo could be interpreted as inappropriate? So much for my typing skills. Idid notice the typo but there was no chance to "edit" my comment. I'll have to be more vigilant to proof read my comments. - I like your helicopter/volcano pictures. Wasn't it a great ride? Did your version of our motley group come out? Hope so.