EMC129 A Tsunami True Event 2/2 To: Emergency Communications Units - Information Bulletin To: Emergency Management Agencies via Internet and Radio By: Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS) of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services EMC129 A Tsunami True Event 2/2 For release 4/27/98 The young cadet had just replied, saying: "No. No." she repeated softly, "We don't know anything about that. Captain Davis is not here right now, and the other cadets are outside practicing for the drill team competition. Over." "Please warn everyone to get out. Now! The ETA is about 50 minutes. Just get out! Now! This is Firebrand 19 over and out!" I put as much urgency as I could muster for that soft-spoken Hawaiian girl. The rest was history. The girl and another young man/cadet jumped into the red-light and siren-equipped CAP Jeep and raced up and down the small valley community warning everyone to get out immediately. "Tsunami coming! Tsunami coming! Hele on, hele on! Wiki wiki!" Everyone got out of the valley to safety -- just in the nick of time. What had happened? Why was there no other warning? It was subsequently learned that a bread or milk truck driving north from Lihue towards Hanalei a little before 4 a.m. skidded off the slick pavement into a telephone pole. The accident severed all telephone lines north, including the siren control pairs. When the telephone outage was discovered, a police officer sped 35 miles to Hanalei. The tsunami slammed into Hanalei while the officer was still six miles away. He found all the residents safe at what is now the site of the Princeville resort. Two days later I stood with Kauai C.D. Administrator Manuel Medeiros at the Hanalei lookout, 90 feet above the ocean. We stared at the evidence of the waterline 30 feet _above_ us on the bank. Nothing remained in Hanalei. The bridge was gone. From the CAP reconnaissance plane, we saw destroyed coconut plantations, concrete slabs, perhaps a few bathtubs, but mostly just pipes rising out of the concrete. The people of Hanalei valley were saved by two-way radio and two teenage CAP cadets who knew what to do. They were later honored at a Congressional banquet in Washington, D.C." End of a true experience from the life of Stanly Harter. Stan was born in San Francisco and educated in criminology and electronics. His experiences included emergency management, broadcast journalism, law enforcement, fire suppression, consulting, search and rescue and frequency coordination and public safety communications. Stan was Assistant Director of Civil Defense and chief of Hawaii State government telecommuni- cations from l962-1982. From l982-85 he worked in Kern County, CA. In l985 he became the California State OES coordinator for the Auxiliary Communications Service and the EAS programs. Stan consulted nationwide to assist governments in creating, managing and utilizing emergency communications units using the FCC Amateur Radio Service licensee and others. He was active in the Civil Air Patrol since l951. Stan passed beyond the veil of this physical world April 2, l998 after leaving the office in a state van at 10 pm. He was parking the van in front of his home in Sacramento when he had a massive heart attack. Stan was a dedicated believer in the volunteers who serve our fellow humans in whatever capacity they may do so. Many felt the brush of his ideas, interest, humor and beliefs. We are saddened at his going, but through those of us whose lives he touched, his endeavors live on. Aloha, Stan. We remember you well. --- ACS Web page: http://acs.oes.ca.gov FTP archive: ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/packet/tcpip/incoming for new bulletins and ftp.ucsd.edu/hamradio/races for earlier ones. Landline BBS: 916-262-0856 (graphical & standard interface). ____________________________________________________________ Interim ACS and EAS Program Manager: Cary Mangum, State Chief ACS Officer and Assistant Communications Coordinator. E-mail Cary_Mangum@oes.ca.gov or cary_mangum@bbs.macnexus.org EOM EMC129