The worse recurring nightmare I have ever had is the one where I am lying on a beach, asleep. In the dream, I wake up and look straight up to see a huge wave, filling the sky, about to crash over me. The fear wakes me up. After we heard the news of the Asian tsunami, thoughts of this nightmare caused me to worry a bit more about the actual chances of a tsunami hitting the California coast.

I read in the paper about how the "early warning" system was in place. However, there was nothing printed about what the warning would be - what combination of horns or sirens indicates, "get to higher ground!"? If you heard a siren or an air-raid type horn, would you automatically know what to do? I signed up online for internet delivery of state-wide alerts, in case I happened to be reading email when the big wave came.

Last night, we were walking the dog down the street, headed for the park. A car was driving up the street, and the driver veered over to our side and pulled up to the curb. She leaned out the window and told us that she had just heard about a tsunami alert on the weather channel. She was taking herself and her little dog to higher ground until after 9:20pm, which was when it was supposed to hit.

We weren't terribly concerned, because we knew we would be back home by then. Also, I hadn't heard any horns or whistles. Back at the house, I turned on the tv to hear that there HAD been a tsunami warning due to an earthquake off the coast, but it had been cancelled. This morning, I checked my email, and NOTHING had been sent last night to "warn" me. I am more skeptical than I was before about this so-called "early warning" system. But I do know that I can count on my neighbors for sounding the alarm!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 15, 2005 at 9:37 AM. You can skip to the end and leave a response.