
| Survivor Recounts 1946 Tsunami |
|
|
| Written by Brooks Baehr - bbaehr@kgmb9.com | |||
| August 18, 2008 06:26 PM | |||
|
The star speaker as the conference opened was not a civil defense director, geophysicist, or oceanographer, but a tsunami survivor. Harriet Rompon endured the deadly tsunami that swept through Hilo in 1946. She has told her kids and grandkids about the wave that destroyed her home, killed her mother and nearly killed her, but in the 62 years since it happened she had not talked publicly about it until now. "In the meantime there was something else that I saw that could change my life. And that was a pig that was, you know, going. Making noise and going. So I says, OK, I have to grab his tail to save my self because that's the only thin I saw. So I just jumped and grabbed his tail. Rompon's new found friend, a neighborhood pig, kept her afloat until a man with a rope fished her out of the water. Now this survivor urges everyone to take tsunami education and awareness seriously. "In our time we didn't have any warnings about tsunami. I didn't even know the word tsunami. So it's good if you can listen to people who talk about dangerous situations. And head for the hills when you hear the words (Tsunami! Tsunami!)." 159 people, including Rompon's mother, were killed in the 1946 tsunami. |
|||
| Last Updated ( August 18, 2008 06:26 PM ) | |||
Subscribe to receive 9 Online
Delivered by FeedBurner!
Subscribe to receive 9 Online
Delivered by FeedBurner!





