Friday, January 26, 2018

Wake Up Call

Around 1 am Pacific time Tuesday morning there was a large earthquake in Alaska.  We awoke  to find that there had been a tsunami warning for the whole BC Coast and all of Vancouver Island but that the warning had already been called off by the time we got up.  It was a weird feeling turning on your phone and suddenly seeing all these social media posts about potential disaster, not knowing what was going on.  We turned the TV on and realized any danger to the Island had passed.


Tuesday was a wakeup call for many.  Sure, they talk about "the big one" earthquake here all the time but rarely talk about tsunamis.  In elementary school I remember doing a science project on tsunamis so am pretty familiary with them, especially after what happened to Japan a few years ago.  There are still items from Japan that wash up regularly on the east side of Vancouver Island.  If you go anywhere near the water you regularly see signage showing tsunami zone areas.  For anyone who hasn't been to Vancouver Island many areas of the Island are far above sea level as we have a lot of mountains and hills here.  Even though our house only 1 km away from the water's edge we are 1000 ft above sea level as live on a huge hill behind Comox which I have marked in red on the map. 

What we learned from all this:  Our town does not have a siren because there is very low probability of damage from a tsunami in our area.  We are on the inside passage between the Island and mainland and even then, there are two huge land masses that protect our town's harbour which are not populated by houses (one is owned by the Navy and houses a few military personnel).  Those at most risk are on the outside of Vancouver Island and they do have sirens there and actually evacuated people to higher ground.

It is a reminder that everyone needs to have an emergency plan no matter what.  We have an emergency kit and I need to stock up on more canned goods and make sure there are sufficient supplies in our stash. Yes, it was weird.  Even more horrible and something I can't stop thinking about is what if it hadn't been a false alarm, what if the tsunami came and wiped away many towns on our island.  That is a horrible thought indeed.  When we lived in Alberta we had tornadoes, and they used to hit like clockwork every July.  Hubby has an Aunt and Uncle whose large farm and house was completely wiped out by one but thankfully, no one was injured and they rebuilt.  You never know where a tornado is going to hit usually until it is too late.  With tsunamis there is generally warning time.  It was a great real life practice for many on the island.  A special shout out thank you to Lorraine at Clamco for thinking of me when she saw the tsunami warning much earlier than we did as she lives on the East Coast of the USA.

Other than that we have been busy with life and work.   I have managed a few walks with Buddy this week as there have been a few breaks in the rain. He gets so bored when we don't go for walks so we end up playing ball or laser tag in the house with him.  Thankfully we have a really long hallway for ball and still have carpet in the bedroom for laser tag.  He still hasn't destroyed his Christmas rubber toy which is a miracle as he is a toy killer but maybe he is maturing now at age 3.  He still packs his toy all around the house so I know he likes it. 

I haven't hit the end of our grocery budget yet with only a couple of days left in the month.  As long as I can prevent hubby from going to the grocery store(#grocery budget killer $8 olives anyone?) we should be under budget and yet the fridge and freezer are still quite full.  I hit up dollar days this week and got a whole brocolli head for $1 which is a real deal here and it was actually fresh.  I can't wait until our farm market opens up this Spring as am tired of paying high prices for crappy produce.

I save money on little things to spend money one big things like our Spring trip to Italy and France.  I prepaid our first AirBNB this week in Salerno-we are such hotel people but in this case an apartment just makes more sense, at least in Italy.   I got a great deal on two hotel rooms in Paris at a top rated 3 star hotel which includes breakfast (Astotel Hotel Lorette in Pigalle), a reminder that even in expensive cities there is always the odd bargain to be had if you book early.  Yes, we will be staying in an adult area of the city but our "boys" are fully grown men and part of traveling and seeing the world is seeing the gritty parts of cities too.  We will be within an 8 minute walk to the Moulin Rouge and 15 minutes to Sacre Coeur.  Apparently the seedy part of Paris is now the up and coming hip area with tons of restaurants and lots of nightlife, not just the seedy kind it used to be.

Have a great weekend everyone!




23 comments:

  1. Are you listening to the Joanna Wagstaff pieces on CBC? I'm finding them very informative and an excellent description of what is likely to happen in the event of an earthquake/tsunami?
    As for Paris, one evening my friends and I decided to stroll the streets around our hotel, a lady of the night must have thought we were taking over her patch as she cursed me out and swung her huge and heavy purse which made painful contact with my shoulders and neck. My friends were no help, having collapsed with laughter.

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    1. Thanks for the heads up! I will have to check Joanna out. I love your story, what nice friends lol, great story to remind you of Paris. I have two burly stepsons and hubby to protect me lol

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  2. Interesting and thought-provoking post!

    In Israel,we're constantly being warned about the possibility of a major earthquake. So, what can we do about it? not much.

    I followed my mother's advice not to live near a body of water (floodings) or a forest (fire); I live, however in a ..war zone (every several years there's rockets exchange with our neighbors).

    Your mention of Moulin Rouge reminds me that I've written about it in one of my earlier posts, and I was rather surprised to see that some of my non-european followers have never heard about this iconic place.

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    1. I'm going to look up your Paris posts! Getting excited now! We learn French in school here (most of it is never used then lost, I know only a few words) and learned about the Moulin Rouge in French class along with many other Paris landmarks :)

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  3. And a great weekend to you as well, the tsunami warning was indeed a wake up call to a potential disaster. Port Alberni has already been hit once, but we feel quite safe on the hill just west of Duncan...

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    1. You are as safe in Duncan as we are, it is so much higher ground and this side of the island is pretty safe no matter what. Port Alberni is a long way for that water to travel in but if it happened once it can happen again. I guess it just depends what kind of quake and where it hits

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  4. I know it must have been incredibly frightening to find a tsunami alert when waking. We do have sirens here but they are for tornados.
    The 1 dollar broccoli is an amazing deal. I would have bought several and frozen some.
    Can't wait until your trip to see it through your eyes.

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    1. We are starting the big trip countdown. Son #3 is in the process of getting his passport right now (adulting through government paperwork lol) but the rest of us are ready to go. Going to order some Euros...can almost taste the pasta and croissants!

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  5. I remember watching the news footage of the tsunami that hit Japan. I couldn't believe the devastation, so when I saw that warning, I truly was frightened for you. So glad it was called off and that was is well.

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    1. Thanks my friend, by the time I got the facebook notification it was all said and done. We shut our phones off at night as still have a house phone for the business and emergencies....most people around here took it in stride but I am sure those on the other side of the Island where the danger was much higher felt a lot different about it

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  6. I have been in the country - and still am - and have not heard any real news for the last three weeks. I am so grateful you are okay! We have has so many earthquakes the last couple of years in Texas. Not devastating ones but they have taken their toll on foundations and driveways and such.
    I so look forward to all of your trips. You take me where I would never be able to go!
    Guess what? I booked us on an Alaskan cruise for my birthday in September. A cruis was on my bucket list and I will turn 70 that month. Louis Dean will be 82 in November. If not now - then when??
    I love how you do so many memorable things at such a young age!

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    1. You will love Alaska, I did an inside passage Alaska cruise about 20 years ago. My favorite part was watching the bits of iceberg fall off into the water.

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  7. Goodness I never even heard about this. You've given us all a good reminder to be prepared for anything.

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    1. Tsunamis have wiped out whole towns in Alaska in the 1960s and a town nearby called Port Alberni was also wiped out and rebuilt, very scary indeed

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  8. I wondered if you were in the risk zone of that tsunami scare. Wow!

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    1. Probably way scarier for those who were awake before it got called off. There are still a few cities that were in danger like Victoria that didn't seem to have a proper evacuation plan in place, rather scary

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  9. I instantly thought of you when I heard the news but then realized the danger had passed. Certainly a heads up to be prepared.

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    1. Definitely a heads up. I guess you more than anyone knows what that feels like after being evacuated for days this summer due to the fires

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  10. I still receive "weather alerts" for Vancouver Island and was pretty shocked to see that warning but then quickly received the alert that it was cancelled. Pretty scary though.
    Our last wakeup call was in August 1997 (I think) when the entire eastern seaboard lost hydro for 3 days. That prodded me to set up an emergency box with crank radio and flashlights, candles etc. Then a year later in l998 a tornado went through my parents' village and their property was severely damaged. At least with a tornado you can go to your basement but with a tsunami you can't exactly just get under your desk!

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    1. Exactly! Glad we didn't buy on the other side of the island or in a lower lying area. We really did pick a super nice spot to live, I don't regret that decision at all.

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  11. How completely scary to wake up to that news. It's really always good to prepare. My sister was at our vacation house a few years back (Oregon coast) & there was a tsunami alert, complete with sirens. We spend a lot of time there, and should be better prepared for sure.

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    1. It was very strange, but I learned a lot more about the fact that the tsunami danger in our part of the island is very low - comforting. We saw images of Tofino on the news and they had to evacuate all the hotels and tourists, must have been very scary for them.

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  12. Having lived in Hawaii, we had tsunami drills once a month so that we all knew what to do. I was living on the mainland when the one that did so much damage in Japan happened. It did hit my hometown and the resort that I grew up. The resort was so badly damaged that it had to shut down and is finally being rebuilt now. It was terrifying to see to footage of that tsunami in Japan and also in Hawaii. Where I live now we don't have as many things to fear but I am prepared to leave our house quickly if needed and if I am stuck here at home due to a storm and closed roads, I have lots of food to hold us over.

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