Tsunami Warning

I'm sure everyone has heard about the earthquake in Chile, last night. We were woken abruptly this morning when Carson had received a text from a friend, and he burst into our room saying "a tsunami is going to hit in 30 minutes, we have to get up to higher ground!" We turned on the radio and TV, and sure enough, there was a tsunami warning for all of the east coast of New Zealand. We grabbed a few things, threw them in the car, and headed to MacDonalds for breakfast!

At that point, we had heard from several people that Wainui Beach (were we live), was not likely to be affected. Two other beach areas in Gisborne, however, were evacuated. Civil defense personnel walk through neighborhoods at 4:00 am knocking on doors, and asking people to pack up and move to higher ground. We headed back home, and got ready for church. No mention of the tsunami there. As the day progressed, we watched reports of the tsunami moving across the Pacific, and by this afternoon, the warning was downgraded to an alert.

The tide in front of our place receded to very low levels (lowest we've seen) and then move to very high tide in the space of 10 minutes, and it has done this repeatedly. People are still asked to stay away from the beaches, though there were surfers out there this morning! At the end of the day, it seems no damage has been done, everyone is safe, and we've been reassured that people here take these things seriously. We are thinking of all those people in Chile who have lost loved ones, their homes and everything they own. The end of this day will not bring any such comfort.