- 9:30 pm we were informed that a 9.0 earthquake had hit Japan. This meant that tsunami waves were expected to hit Maui around 3:00 am Friday morning. We were all in a state of shock when we heard the news.
- 10:30 pm the school met as a group and discussed "the plan" for evacuation.
- 11:00 pm students were shuttled to our evacuation spot on higher ground...the parking lot of South Maui Choppers. This parking lot is where we spent the 9 hours in anticipation of the tsunami. The mood was relatively calm with the exception of a few tears as students contacted family, listened to music or watched the developing news.
- 3:00 am as people calmed down the warning siren would go off every hour or so reminding everyone of the reason we were in a parking lot.
- 4:00 am the first waves hit flooding up to 1/3 of a mile inland...coming up to the front lawn of Calvary Chapel South Maui. Thankfully no damage was done to the church or to our condos, however some parts of Maui were hit harder than others such as Front Street in Lahaina and Kalama Park in Kihei.
- 7:00 am we found out that we were not allowed to go back home just yet. A big thank you to Ray and Cindy at South Maui Choppers for opening up their business to our school. Also, thanks for providing a "We Survived the Tsunami 2011 Breakfast!"
- 8:00 am students were given the ok to go back home to their condos. Classes were cancelled for Friday and we were instructed not to go the beach for the day. Now we can all say we've survived a tsunami and slept in a parking lot!
Please Pray for Japan!!
