Feeling Helpless
The Story of January 13, 2018
When you think you are about to die.
Feeling Helpless
On January 13, 2018 at 8:07 AM, I heard a familiar noise. A noise that means there may be a flash flood or an abducted child, but this time the noise meant something far more sinister. This time the noise meant that me and my family were more than likely going to die in less than 15 minutes. The feeling that washes over you when know this will be the outcome, but at the same time you want to live so you do everything you can to protect yourself and your family.
The noise came first, the blaring ear shattering noise. Then panic. Then you look at your children and hope that this is some kind of mistake. You replay the words in your head THIS IS NOT A DRILL. This cannot be happening.
First ripping the air conditioner from the window so you can get it closed. Closing the blinds as if that is really helping anything at all. Telling your oldest child who is seven to grab all the pillows and blankets in the house and put them under his bed because the bed frame has two feet under it and you know you can squeeze everyone under it. Then frantically grabbing everything in sight that will hold water and filling them as fast as you can. Putting the remaining beds up on the windows and securing them with your five-year-old's bed frame. Telling the oldest two to keep their baby sister under the bed with them. Dismissing your five-year-old that keeps asking if the lava is coming. No, no this is far worse than lava. This is the end.
As this is taking place, the TV is on and you can’t understand why there is nothing on the news about this. WHY. It said it was not a drill. It has to be real. So why are they not reporting this. Frustration with no one to answer questions. When you have done everything you can to shelter yourself you start to google for answers. You know in your mind that if it is real you only have a minute or two before it’s over and hopefully you will survive the blast and have enough supplies to shelter in place for at least two weeks. You then see reports that it is a false alarm. That’s can’t be right. After all it said THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Then more and more false alarm posts on Twitter. If this isn’t real why haven’t the news stations picked up on it yet. You know it has been more than 15 minutes so you feel a little safer each minute that passes, but still no official word. Then an agonizing 38 minutes later, you hear it. Another ear piercing screech coming from your phone. Then you see it FALSE ALARM. You breathe a sigh of relief. We will not die today.
Finally the news stations start to relay this message as you get your children out and start putting things back together reluctantly. For the next few hours you sit and watch them explain how this happened. The anger sets in. How, how did this happen and why. You call family who tells their story of being in traffic trying to get back to your niece who is with hundreds of other kids at a paddeling tournament. Your family on the mainland who has no idea what was happening. Your blood is still racing through your body and you still feel uneasy.
The days that follow are filled with news stories of people putting their children in sewer drains as their only resort. College students running to buildings on campus. Families saying their last goodbyes. A father who had to choose which children to be with in their last moments as he knew he did not have time to get to them all.
While the stories may be slightly different, everyone in Hawaii feared for their life that Saturday morning. Some knew their was nothing they could do and went about their day anyway. Some tried, even though they knew it wouldn’t do much. This should have never happened. The stark reality is that it could happen. It could be real very soon. This inside the brought to light how ill prepared we are if it was a real threat. No shelters and no real plan of action other than staying inside. That’s it just stay inside, in a home that most likely has windows that don’t shut or no windows at all. All of this is a real fear because it is possible to believe it would actually happen with the way our world is going today. Something has to change.
For those of you on the mainland that did not have to experience this horrible day, you should be grateful. Be grateful that you don’t have to worry about hearing that sound again. That you did not have to go through this terrible mistake. It certainly gave people a wake up call to love a little harder as today could be the last day you see your friends and family. This was not something that I would wish upon my worst enemy. This was the worst 38 minutes of my life. Feeling helpless.
About the Creator
Keep reading
More stories from writers in The Swamp and other communities.
Well-Intentioned Whistleblower or Opportunist?
“I want to believe that you're telling the truth But something tells me don't trust you” – Agnostic Front When a family enrolls a child in a school, the district immediately starts incurring expenses. Space must be reserved for each student and teachers assigned to those classrooms. The district must ensure that textbooks and other supplies are available. These costs are constant and do not change when a child misses a day of school.
By Carl J. Petersena day ago in The Swamp
Rivers of Death
Rivers bring water the element essential to all life on Earth but wherever rivers flow they also bring death surprise attacks Savage kills and brutal fights every day is a battle for survival on these rivers of [Applause] death I'm under the African Sun Staying Alive is hot thirsty work and among the ranks of animals jostling to get a drink lurk Killers waiting to strike but while Lions may be fearsome and the huge Nile crocodiles ruthless Predators one of the continent's deadliest River Killers is mostly vegetarian renowned wallowers spending up to 16 hours a day lounging in the water hippos could be mistaken for relaxed creatures and yet the river horse as their name translates from ancient Greek can be a very angry pony indeed with tusks up to a foot and a half long hippos are literally armed to the teeth and a charging bull Hipp can impact with the weight force of a pickup truck what's more hippos May brutally defend their territory an Impala has been chased into a muddy Watering Hole by a lion it's stuck but for fortunately for the stricken analou the lion is reluctant to follow it into the Meer unfortunately it finds itself in the domain of a hippo ill disposed to uninvited guests the hippo's not stealing the watching Lion's meal she's most likely just aggressively defending her calf and the Impala pays the ultimate price for crossing a doting mother hippos are thought to kill more people each year than the rest of Africa's most dangerous animals combined and during mating season their ruthless aggression is directed at other hippos two bulls square up the pod's dominant male and a Challenger at stake the Riverbanks Prime mating territory and a Herm of females the dominant male puts on an aggressive display posturing to show he will not yield but the interloper Demands a fight finally the dominant male is Victorious the Conqueror celebrates with a dung shower marking the border of the territory he has successfully defended while the vanquished suffers more than just the agony of defeat his back is carved open and by Sunset the crocodiles are watching closely they'd be unlikely to take on a bull in rude Health but now they Circle an expectation the hippo breathes his last the price of insurrection is life his Hulk will not go to waste the crocodiles move in swiftly to Feast on the corpse for these voracious Predators it's a considerable meal but one dead hippo is a mere snack compared with the annual Feast provided by a particular African river each year the serengetti vast grass Plains filled to the Horizon with grazing animals taking part in one of Nature's greatest spectacles around 1 and2 million wilder beast join 700,000 other herbivores on the Great Migration around 1 in six of these migrants will die before completing the 500 M circuit many are outrun and taken down down by Africa's formidable array of Savannah carnivores their Journey coming to a Grizzly end but one of the deadliest single obstacles the vast herds must Traverse is the mara River after 3 months on the move the wilderbeast are exhausted and emaciated all that separates them from the Fresh pastures of the msai mara is the width of the river and a whole bunch of huge ravit Nile crocodiles despite the chilling threat posed by these powerful Predators some of the herd are either oblivious to the danger or so thirsty they dare to take a drink anyway for an unlucky few it will be their last and these witless victims merely wet the Croc's appetite the true Feast begins when the first of the herd Braves the river in the crush and Chaos of the crossing the 16t Crocs grabs scores of victims when 1,600 lb of musc futile the marus Crocs survive on meager rations for most of the year so take full advantage of the great migrations time of Plenty they Gorge themselves eating up to half their body weight in one sitting and with so many different species crossing the river the banquet is as varied as it is Bountiful but not all Africa's Crocs have such an easy meal ticket on the banks of this Kenyon River a Croc has got too close to a pack of feeding Lions a move it's about to regret it's a fierce attack but the Crocs skin is covered in bony armor plating eventually the Lion's Uninvited Guest Retreats having taught the Crocs and dinner manners the big cats return to the carcass the Amazon is a giant of a river and and conceal some monstrous Predators which kill with a crush and in a bloody frenzy draining a lowland Basin of close to 3 million square miles around 1/5 of the water that runs off the earth's surface is carried by the Amazon this giant of a river is renowned for its oversized residence both prey and Predator around 4 ft long and and weighing as much as an adult human capibara are the world's largest rodent they're
By cacloaidongvat4 days ago in The Swamp
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.