Tsunami Arrives! Series of Dramatic Photos Shows Strong Outflow, then Waters Return

12:20 pm HST Update

At approximately noon HST, the stationary camera overlooking Hilo Bay (shown exclusively on KGMB-TV) showed a strong outflow or "sucking out" of the bay's waters below a bridge over to Coconut Island in Hilo Bay.

Less than two minutes later, the water flow had slowed and stopped....

... and within a minute, an inflow had started. The ebb and flow of the bay's waters was obvious in the station's coverage. This pattern has continued for the past 20 minutes.

11:25 am HST Update

Sailboats, tugboats with barges and all manner of other vessels are flowing out of Honolulu's harbors into the relative safety of open ocean. Tsunami waves, if they arrive, are expected to simply lift vessels a bit if they're distant from shore, but if caught in a harbor where the waves peak, they could be dashed to pieces.

Also, the media have been told to leave the vicinity of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Zone, which as we noted immediately below is within the Ewa Beach tsunami zone -- irony of all ironies.

10:30 am (HST) Update

Dashed red line shows approximate inundation zone boundary;

"A" marks location of the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

It’s not a secret but hasn’t been mentioned in the media coverage we’ve heard: The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center on Fort Weaver Road in Ewa Beach, HI lies within the tsunami inundation zone as shown in an online inundation zone map.

The PTWC plans to move to Ford Island in Pearl Harbor, where it presumably would be designed to avoid an inundation zone. But for now, one wonders what will happen if a significant wave does reach Oahu’s southwest corner.

And of this hour, Hawaii Public Radio has resumed its full-time tsunami coverage on one of its stations – KHPR (88.1 FM) and also via streaming on the ‘net.

9:50 am (HST) Update

Clear Channel reports some service stations are running out of gas; one in Kailua on Oahu hasn't put out a sign, however, and cars are lining up -- fruitlessly.

Postal delivery won't be made in the inundation zones around the state.

Perry and Price continue to take calls from the audience, which is what they do during the week. As Howard Dicus demonstrated for two straight hours this morning between 5 and 7, there's more than enough official information about this quake, this tsunami and all the related issues to fill the time without relying on their usual format. But as a Clear Channel executive made clear two years ago, ratings are top of mind for the conglomerate even during emergencies.

Our take: Do the job right and ratings will take care of themselves.

9:15 am Update

Clear Channel's politically conservative team of Perry and Price can't seem to leave their weekday entertainment habits behind (as we've noted previously) when an emergency brings them into the studio. At about 8:50, Price notes that Hawaii native President Obama has issued a statement from the White House. Perry's response is a grunt. The statement is not read, and no further mention is made of it. In other words, their politics continues to influence their broadcasting, even during this emergency.

Update on Hawaii Public Radio: Unfortunately, the two HPR stations have been running national feeds since 7 am except for updates on the hour and drop-ins at about :19 and :39. We can't help but think HPR is missing a tremendous opportunity to set itself apart from the rest of the radio spectrum here. Pro journalist Howard Dicus was excellent during his preempted music program from 5-7, giving a nearly unbroken stream of updates and perspective. One wonders what it'll take for HPR to toss its format. Hopefully the trigger isn't death and destruction.

7:55 Update

Governor Linda Lingle was on the Clear Channel stations moments ago reassuring the public that officials are monitoring the situation.

City Managing Director Kirk Caldwell calls in regarding bus operations.

All beach parks are cancelled. University of Hawaii events are cancelled. Most likely other events also are on the block.

Strange early-morning announcement by a fire department truck in the neighborhoods on the mauka (mountain) side of Star of the Sea school at the end of the H-1 freeway. The truck was advising residents to be prepared to evacuate, but this area is far from an inundation zone.

Hawaii Public Radio unfortunately is still sticking with its usual format. Both KHPR and KIPO are carrying the same National Public Radio program (Weekend Edition). If ever there was a time for HPR to throw out the format and devote KIPO (primarily a public affairs station) to this emergency, now is that time!

7:20 am Update

In the midst of the blanket TV and radio coverage this morning of the tsunami warning, a standout so far was Hawaii Public Radio’s Howard Dicus, who preempted his “Howard’s Day Off” music program on KHPR (88.1 FM).

Howard is your classic professional journalist – in other words, a newsman. Most Honolulu radio stations regrettably don’t hire many or any of them any longer, so for the best radio coverage, we recommend Hawaii Public Radio.

That’s the point made here at CHORE 13 months ago after the December 26, 2008 Oahu power outage. HPR could become a designated emergency broadcast outlet using its professional journalists. Other radio outlets primarily use entertainers.

UNFORTUNATELY…. HPR ended its local coverage at 7 am and is broadcasting NPR’s Weekend edition on both KHPR and KIPO. Isn’t this an appropriate time to throw out the format and devote KIPO to tsunami coverage? The answer is YES!

State Civil Defense

Its 6 am siren went off but without a voice announcement afterwards. That obviously was a problem. Later, TV news confirmed that State CD is having trouble with its announcement mechanism. Deja Vu all over again!? An inability to communicate effectively with the public is what started CHORE in the first place after the October 2006 earthquakes!