Terror.....

 

The Tsunami as it traveled East in the Pacific

 Map of the Pacific.  The Mariana Islands is a group of about 200 and Guam is included in this group.  Guam is the first red dot on the left of the map.

I woke this morning, about 3am EST,  to a frantic phone call from my daughter Gina.

"Are you watching the News?"
"No I'm asleep" I said. 
"Mom, a Tsunami is coming!"

"Japan had a huge earthquake and the Island of Guam is on hi alert!"
"OMG"!  is all I could mutter as I ran to turn on CNN


For the next 5 hours I stayed on  the phone with my daughter as she and her Coast Guard husband prepared for the Tsunami to hit the Island.
Gina was hysterical as she has three little boys to protect.   I tried to comfort her and give her the best advice I could.  Get some rope and when it's time to get on the roof, tie them together... then tie them to you or their dad.  "They will not float away".  Then find an air vent or something on the roof,  and tie the rope to that... find anything!  We stayed on the phone, off and on every 30 minutes or so and then my son, daughter #1, Gina's dad and my sister in SA,  all monitored the situation, together!   My two phones were not enough to keep up with all the calls.  I relayed messages all morning!  I also was on the verge of hysteria!

 After my morning of "Terror"

I'm so happy to say she and the Island got the "All Clear" about 7am EST when the current took the Tsunami North of the Island. All they had come in was a low 2ft of water.  Gina's home is on the Navy base and it sits on the elevated area of the island.. her street was full of residents coming to higher ground and they all brought wine and drink ... Sounds to me like a "Hurricane Party" we here in Florida have.  
The Navy  and AF bases took care of their own Ships and Planes.. got them out of harms way but left the families to find shelter... this bothered me.  Why not put them all on the ships?  It reminded me of when I was about 9 yrs old. A hurricane came through Miami and my dad (airline pilot) was sent to fly the planes up north and they left us in Miami to fend for ourselves... odd to say the least!
To all of you who do not experience such disasters,, wine and liquor helps with the terror that you feel in your soul!   Gina said her husband gave her wine to calm her down and it did help.  But her heart and mind was on saving her three boys and also on the families of Japan because she has a few friends who came from Japan....
Guam feels earthquakes at least every two or three days.  Gina has also lived there two years now and has been through three Tsunami warnings but nothing as huge as this one... Me,  as her mom who has had enough of this.. "I want Gina and her family to come home"!!!  Her husband has only another year there. Can my heart take it?



Those in Guam escaped the devastating effects of this  disaster but to the Countries who got the worst of this  earthquake... 

I send my prayers to all.

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 I would like to thank all my blogger friends who called and sent messages asking how my family in Guam were doing.

All is well. 

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