Tsunami Hits Santa Cruz: YaYa Seeks Higher Ground

Many Santa Cruzans didn't know about the magnitude 8.9 earthquake that hit Japan early Friday morning and its subsequent tsunami until the local news came on at 6:00 am. Some were startled to hear that a  tsunami warning was in effect for our beach town. The waves were expected to hit between 7:30 and 8:00 am.

I suspect that I was not the only unaware Santa Cruz resident who was tossing and turning at 12:30 am that night, unable to find the part of the mattress that would receive and soothe her aching body. My mind was racing, my body was unsettled, and FuBu, too, was wide awake and jumping on and off the bed. We had no idea what was brewing.

Around 1:30 am when I was about to give up on sleep and watch some late-night re-runs, hopefully of Bones, Monk, or Who's the Boss, my phone rang. It was a fellow insomniac in San Jose calling to tell me to turn on the television. There we saw the explosions, fires and destruction caused by the quake; people ducking and dodging and screaming. I started having heart palpitations as I remembered the 1989 7.1 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake that ripped apart towns in the Bay Area and Central Coast, including Santa Cruz.

My panic came a calling as we watched the ocean water flow like lava through Japan, knocking over buildings like they were Legos and ripping up cars and carrying them along as if they were loose pebbles.

We could only find news coverage on CNN and the Weather Channel. All we knew was the tsunami had created such rocking and rolling in the deep blue that California was expected to feel its affects within five hours. The size of the expected waves only the local newscasters would report four to five hours later!

What was I going to do in the meantime? Of course, by now I was imagining Katrina victims waving white sheets from the top floors of their homes, people in long lines trying to evacuate the city, overcrowded armories with children crying for their families. In my mind's eye, I saw myself getting trampled in the mass

exodus from Santa Cruz.

You may call me dramatic. I called it ESP (extrasensory perception.) I live a mile from the ocean. I didn't have enough understanding to predict the height or the reach that the tsunami waves would have in my community. My gut told me to make a plan, now!

I called Buddy, who is currently in New Jersey, and together we decided I should head for a local hotel that is at a higher elevation. "Don't wait...gather your medicine...books...magazines...papers to grade....laptop...and, oh yeah, clothes...and go now. Better be safe than sorry," my dear heart warned.

At 6:00 am, I was checking into the Chaminade as my town was awakening and hearing about the impending waves. You could have set your watch to the arrival of the first surge. The sea receded by about100 yards and rushed back in several times throughout the morning. The town warned residents near the coast to evacuate, too late, if you ask me.

The harbor close to my home received the worst damage. The boats there tossed and turned like rubber duckies in a child's bath. Eighteen boats sank and at least another 100 boats sustained damage, including cracked hulls, broken masts and rudders. Docks broke apart and big cement clumps floated about marring vessels.

By the time I'd checked into my room and watched the first local news reports, I had been awake for more than 24 hours. And while I was fluffing my pillows praying that I might finally fall asleep, daredevil surfers had paddled out to sea to catch some waves. That's so-o-o-o Santa Cruz.