Saturday, March 12, 2011

Saturday's Tidbits



That's former Hawaii radio broadcaster Kamasami Kong. Apparently, he's been living in Japan for a few years now. He was on CNN giving a first person account to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux about Japan's devastating earthquake. Podcast, here. The video takes too long to load, and Sypke quality anyways. Kamasami Kong was also on Bill O'Reilly on Friday. It seems that he's the unofficial point man for both major news channels.




This screenshot of the tsunami inspires thoughts of the Waikiki inundation zone. That green structure in the upper left hand corner of the photo is a dock crane to indicate the height of the tsunami surge. Waikiki is moated off by the Ala Wai canal on its inland boundary. A tsunami surge would simultaneously rush upstream and we'd be swamped from two fronts. Waikiki was mostly rice fields, before that taro farms, in swamp land, later filled in for where we stand now, that is, we're barely 2 feet above sea level at the highest elevation. And the Waikiki Zoo. In the back of my mind, I always wondered about the neighborhood if the lions and the tigers escaped their habitats and roamed the streets.

3 comments:

Kay said...

None of us are safe. We never know when that big tsunami could hit us again, or the big hurricane. It was really scary listening to Kamasami Kong's account.

Two feet above sea level really sounds awful. You're lucky to be up pretty high in your condo.

Anonymous said...

Mayor Carlisle had no idea what could possibly be done to care for the animals in the zoo during a tsunami. Horrible way to drown.

RONW said...

Kay- fortunately for Kong, he's was in Tokyo. I've seen eye witnesses' accounts on tv about the shaking lasting for 2 minutes, where at some point, understandably, you start worrying whether the building you're in won't fall over.

gigi- I heard Mayor Carlisle respond to that very question. Don't overly worry about the zoo animals. Their natural instincts will kick in. But if the water level rises above their fences, they'll be outta the gates and get grumpy when lunch isn't served.