Holmes Harbor Tsunami Watch

Mollie writes:

We've had our share of snow and wind in the last two weeks, but today is something new. We've lived on Whidbey Island for 6 years now, and are finding that, indeed, we live in a different world.

We are only expecting a 1 foot 'change' in our local waters, but looking out my back window, I see the "highest" tide I've seen for a while. We aren't expecting much in the way of flooding, but just the idea that we are actually here in this geologic event is a little thrilling.

The worst we expect isn't damage to our home, we are out of the tsunami range even in the worst of circumstances - our house is so high off the waters. But our sailboat is moored in Anacrortes and we are concerned not with the height of a wave but with the moments right before the tsunami when the water recedes. If it recedes enough before the wave hits, our sailboat might "run aground" and damage the rudder.

This is a precious minimum. We watch out our window, and in the driving rain and the bursting gusts (yesterday we had 60-mph gusts) we realize we are so blessed. We are safe, everything is tied down, and La Nina, not the tsunami, is our biggest worry.

We are a small world, and we are all interconnected. We have tsunamis to worry about, a word derived from our Japanese culture. We fret over the snows, rains and winds of of La Nina, a word derived from our hispanic brothers and sisters.

An 8.9 earthquake off the coast of Japan has impact on our side of the Pacific rim. I pray for our friends in Japan. I can sit in my living room and watch the "tide" come in and take peace and joy that we are safe.

None of us really lives on an island. We are interconnected.