High-pitched, wailing sirens screamed throughout town and into my open living room windows. The minute seemed endless. I heard those sirens in movies about tornadoes and nuclear drills. They meant impending emergency. I had only been a resident of Hawaii for a month, so I did an internet search to find out why the wailing invaded my living room and how long I had to live. This was my first tsunami warning. I learned that I had much to learn and hoped that the Pacific Tsunami Museum could teach me.
In fact, the urgent cry of the sirens came five or six times that day and each time my anxiety climbed. We can place blame squarely on a Russian earthquake for this “fun” indoctrination to Hawaiian life. By evening, I understood that we needed to be two miles from the coast. Our house was, in fact, two and a half miles from the coast. The little signs on the side of the road that delineate when you enter and leave the “tsunami evacuation area” suddenly made sense. As a volcanic island, most of the land slopes upward as you move toward the center of the island (toward the volcanoes). Most importantly, our neighborhood is constructed on the early part of the slope as the land begins to rise. As I learned at the Pacific Tsunami Museum, every foot of rise matters.
Tsunami Museum Location & History
Located in downtown Hilo in a beautiful 1930’s art-deco building (former First Hawaiian Bank), the Pacific Tsunami Museum is a non-profit organization. The museum educates visitors about past tsunamis and current tsunami protocols. It also memorializes those who lost their lives in previous disasters. In fact, I walked through the original bank vault door to take a seat in former vault, which today is the educational video theatre. As I write this, the museum is in the middle of a revitalization project and fundraising campaign. They have raised $700,000 towards their $1 million goal. The campaign includes capital projects like replacing the roof on their historic building. There are also goals for creating new exhibits and freshening up the current ones. The new resources will help preserve their archives, expand their educational offerings, and more.
The Pacific Tsunami Museum Visitor Experience
General visitor admission is $15. There are discounted and free tickets available for seniors, military, children, and museum members depending on the category. A huge scale model of Hilo town is the first teaching tool visitors encounter. A supremely knowledgeable docent spoke to us for 10 minutes. He used the model to explain the difference between historic Hilo and modern Hilo. He also pointed out where the mammoth waves landed during the most significant tsunamis in the town’s history.
After time with the docent, we headed off on our own to weave our way through the exhibits. Though there is a lot of reading to do here, there are also short videos, survivor stories, stunning photographs, scrapbooks and more.
Long before the wailing warning sirens of today, Hilo was devastated by two tsunamis.
Hilo’s Historic Waves
In April 1946, an Alaskan earthquake triggered massive waves in Hawaii that slammed into the town. The waves were between 26-40 feet, with some surges over the breakwater as high as 55-feet. The enormous waves bent parking meters in half, completely erased numerous buildings on block after city block and, tragically, killed nearly 100 people on the island of Hawaii and nearly an additional 60 on the other islands.
In May 1960, an earthquake in Chile triggered a series of waves in Hawaii, some of which measured as tall as 35-feet. Again, portions of downtown were wiped out and over 60 people died. Though some sirens were installed around the waterfront in the 1950’s, after the tragedy of the 1960 tsunami, a much more comprehensive system came into widespread use.
My Tsunami Education Takeaways
The Pacific Tsunami Museum taught me that while a tsunami moves with frightening speed, there are warning signs. My fear subsided now that I am armed with knowledge. I am from hurricane country, so I am accustomed to having several days’ notice of an incoming natural disaster. I understand that with a tsunami, you might have between five and 30 minutes of warning. Now, I understand that tsunamis are often a series of waves, rather than one wave. The intense current will drag so much water out to sea in preparation for a large wave that a bay or coastline can appear nearly empty. If you see that, leave the waterfront. Get to high ground immediately. (Ideally, at least two miles uphill).
As this is the Pacific Tsunami Museum, it also offers exhibits on the Japanese tsunamis and the famous December 2004 tsunami in Thailand. The science is fascinating and the survivor accounts are riveting.
In addition, if you’re fascinated by how emergency response has changed from generation to generation, then make sure to read about the Firefighters Museum in Tampa, Florida. The century-old communication systems and safety equipment will blow your mind.
Lastly, in Hilo, on the first day of every month they test the sirens at 11:45am. After my trip to the tsunami museum, the piercing horn no longer brings fear into my living room. Today, it delivers an admiration for the people who created the system and a moment of silence for those who are no longer with us to hear it.
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