On Sunday, October 15, just after 7 a.m., I felt a rumbling, a deep vibration. Our building trembled, but I knew it wasn't just the building. I immediately turned on the TV to CNN Headline News, but nothing was mentioned yet... then the power went out. I did not have a battery-operated radio, so proceeded to do as I would have anyway - I headed for the office. As I walked along the street, some people were gathered, talking about what they were doing when it occurred...
As I waited at the bus stop a man was speaking to someone on his cell phone. When he got off, I asked him if he knew what it was, and he said it was an earthquake. I asked if he had so heard, but he simply replied that "it had to be". He said he was headed for higher ground, then walked away briskly...
When I reached the office, I asked the person on duty if he had heard anything. At the time it was nothing official. He had been making/receiving phone calls and gathered it was a quake offshore from Maui [I later found out out it was closer to the Big Island].
Okay, now I was fairly certain it was a quake, and nothing man-made (not directly anyway). With the power out, I couldn't get much work done, so decided to cut things short and head back home. I was thinking about food, I had not eaten breakfast, and thought "Chinatown". They start the day early there, and I knew a lot of food would have already been prepared. As I walked past River Street then through parts of Hotel St. and King St. I saw lines, but not excessively long, normal actually for a Sunday morning in Chinatown. People buying roast pork, char siu, roast duck, etc.
As I was contemplating getting in line, I saw my bus approaching, so opted for "Plan B": ride No. 13 to Kapahulu Ave. and get off at Rainbow Drive-In (see Some of My Favorite Plate Lunches on Oahu), on the assumption that the open-air, take-out operation would be serving something. I was not disappointed. I immediately saw the lines and people eating at the tables but, again like Chinatown, this volume of business was not unusual for a Sunday. I knew not to expect the usual fare, so when my turn came, I simply asked the lady "What do you have?". She replied "beef stew" and one or two other things (I think maybe a chili dog plate was one). I like their beef stew so asked for that...
As I walked home, I passed by Zippy's on Kapahulu and saw a hand-written sign in the window saying they were closed temporarily.
I guess with no power, many people looked to the larger establishments and did not think much about the smaller mom-and-pop outlets I prefer (I later heard that some businesses still open were inundated with people trying to buy food and supplies)...
When I reached home, I savored my meal, as I did not know when I would get my next hot one. I kept the refrigerator doors closed most of the time, and as the day wore on with no electricity, I was getting concerned about food spoilage.
I heard someone outside say he had heard the news and that it was going to be a "long day". I guessed that meant they weren't expected to have the power back on for some time...
I won't go into the details of things I tried doing to pass the time, but it did turn out to be a long day...
Sometime after 7 p.m. (over 12 hours without electricity!
), I heard cheering outside and knew the power had come back on in our area (my lights had remained off because I left the switches off, so it was the noise outside which first alerted me). At last, this aspect of civilization had returned...Lesson for the future:
- get a battery-operated radio
Raymond T. Kaya
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
www.reikialoha.com/raymond