Friday, March 11, 2011

Wave.

Wow...

I have spent several hours today looking at pictures of the devastation that has hit Japan.  It's so saddening to see the horrific events that have happened there; can you imagine having everything swept from you and possibly having no way to even contact your loved ones to find out if they are still alive and where they are?  What about the little children who somehow got separated from their moms?  How do you even help a child find their family?  Or vice versa?  It' so bizarre to me...I can't even imagine.  To literally have everything taken from you and not even know where you are going to stay...I seriously cannot imagine.  I guess it hits close to home for me because I live half a mile from the beach here, and after seeing the massive tidal waves that have destroyed half of Japan, I am seriously humbled and grateful that those kinds of waves didn't hit us too.  They were supposed to- we've been on watch all day and they just barely re-opened the beaches about an hour ago.

What I don't understand is why so many people went down to the beach today to "watch".  ARE YOU INSANE CALIFORNIANS??  Has anyone seen the impact and the force of the water in those clips?  If you are down by the beach when a wave hits like that- you are done. FINITO.  There is no getting away from that kind of water- I just read on CNN that those waves can reach speeds of up to 640 mph.  Plus, have you seen the clips?  Those waves are Massive!  While they might not be higher than 5 feet high- they carry a force that can destroy everything.  What are you watching for?  Dolphins to do some tricks?  Do you think you can just jump in your car and drive home?  Do you think your house will still be standing when a wave hits it like that?  I have been thinking all day about it- what if that had happened here?  I was laying in bed this morning when calls started coming in from family and friends who were concerned about my safety.  It started around 6 am and I didn't even answer the first 3 because I had no clue what was going on...and I was too tired still.  What if a wave had swept in then?  What if it had come in around 8:45 am, like they predicted?  I never would've been able to say goodbye to my family and friends- literally- if a wave like that had hit here.  I would've been dead pretty quickly considering I live so close to the water.  Dead or stranded or both.  When I finally got up and decided to "prepare", I thought- I should take a shower in case the electricity goes out.  Ha!  That's all I thought- when my friend Ape called around 8:38 to see what I thought we should do, I assured here that it would take a whole hell of a lot for even one wave to cross PCH (Pacific Coast Highway- the highway that runs along the beach), let alone touch our homes.  How naive!  Her mother had called and begged her to evacuate (she lives literally 3 houses away from the beach) and I am sitting here telling her it's unlikely that the water would come that close to us.  I literally live half a mile from the beach- I go running down to the beach path constantly.  The tidal waves that his Japan went as far as 6 miles inland.  I had no idea though; I hadn't seen any of the footage yet.  8:45 came and went without a peep from the ocean.  Despite all of the coast patrol's warnings, people were out surfing today.

I'm just so saddened for the people of Japan.  I think of when Katrina happened; a year later there was still rubble and garbage EVERYWHERE because...how do you clean that up?  There are still reports of aftershocks coming in at 6.9 and higher.  Now the tsunami is headed towards Chili...it's not over folks.  How sad.  How so very very very sad for the people of Japan.  Seriously- the power and magnitude of this devastation really takes my breath away.

Praying for Japan tonight-

-D

5 comments:

  1. I hear you girl. I have been crying while I watched the coverage. It's heartbreaking. So glad you are safe girl.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was still awake when it happened and saw something about it on twitter. I immediately started watching the coverage, thinking about my old hair stylist, Shiho, who left NY to go back to her family last year.

    I have since lost contact with her, and all I know is that her family lived an hour or so NE of Tokyo. My prayers are with her family and everyone else who was affected by the quake and tsunami. I'll never know if she's okay, but I pray she is anyway..

    ReplyDelete
  3. I thought of you today - hoping you were alright. I understand some of this - due to the flood that took everything my parents had in about 30 seconds. It is unimaginable and it was only us - so I can't imagine it being this many people. I will continue to pray...so sad.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You have a good heart, Diz. I'm glad you're safe. Deb

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is so sad. I'm glad you weren't one of the crazies who felt it necessary to watch for the possible waves to come crashing down.

    ReplyDelete