CNN was in crisis mode. The devastating earthquake in Chile had spawned a Tsunami warning along the California (and Alaska) coast, across the Pacific Ocean. ‘Backstory’, was replaced by CNN America. The focus was on Hilo.
“The Tsunami, moving across the Pacific at 500 mph, is scheduled to hit Hilo at 11:04,” the newsreader reported.
The television showed a remarkably calm body of water with..
“There’s someone swimming.! Get him out of there.!” The newscaster, appalled, remarked.
As the camera panned across the bay, we could see helicopters hovering, Breathless reporters reported..
“Nothing is happening. Scientists note that predictions can be ‘off’ by as much as an hour. It will begin as the sea pulls away from the shoreline…”
Nothing happened for almost an hour. Then:
“We’re seeing some discoloration in the water.”
“Hmm,” I thought.
Eventually, the water level in the bay rose by 3 inches. It was a tidal ripple.
[Aside: Swimming my laps this morning, I discovered that Tsunami’s can occur in swimming pools. When a gargantuan ‘swimmer’ entered the pool, the water level rose by about 3 inches. And, later, I was able to detect some discoloration…]
While it is important to be safe rather than sorry, warnings about things that don’t happen (the Hawaiian Tsunami) while missing things that did happen (the Chilean Earthquake) does not engender popular confidence in scientists. Along those lines, how many of my dedicated readers got a swine flu shot?
The photo is from Hawaii – taken about 10 years ago.
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