Wakeup call

It’s the most horrible sound in the world.
No, I’m not talking about the screech of nails scrapping against a blackboard, the high pitched squeal of microphone feedback nor the terrible scream of a wailing baby. The terrible sound I’m referring to is the blaring beep of an alarm clock. Yes, that piercing pitch that steals you from your sweet slumber every morning.
Upon arriving in Fiji I discovered that I automatically woke up at 7:30 a.m. every day regardless of when I went to sleep. I attribute my early rising to two things: the sun coming out so early in Suva and my lack of air-conditioning. It’s impossible to sleep in a room that feels like the cross between a tanning bed and a sauna.
Regardless, my early rising turned out to be a good thing. My days were longer and I enjoyed the brief quiet time before the streets were filled with traffic, pedestrians, and smog.
But on Wednesday morning I was snatched from my sleep by the ringing of my new cell phone. It was my editor at the Fiji Daily Post, Robert Wolfgramm.
“Dale, there is a tsunami warning in effect. Don’t come to the office. Stay at your flat because you are on higher ground,” he said.
I’ve never been pulled out of a sleepy state so fast in my life. Alert and running on adrenaline, I thanked him for the warning and then ran to the kitchen to get online. As I was connecting to the internet I told my traveling companion, Hart, about the warning. Hart responded with an incoherent rant about why – in his opinion – a tsunami posed no threat to us.
As he spoke, I thought about my favourite quote of all time: Ignorance is bliss.
Here I am frantically checking news sites for any updates on the situation, while Hart casually makes ham sandwiches.
Within a few minutes I discovered that an underwater earthquake near Tonga triggered a tsunami which hit Samoa and American Samoa causing massive destruction and, at that point, unknown casualties. As a result, Pacific nations – including Fiji – were put under a tsunami warning.
Fiji is 836 miles away from Samoa, but I was concerned nonetheless. And yet, I couldn’t help but wish I was closer to the action doing what I came here to do: report.
Then the phone rang: it was my editor. He told me that schools were being evacuated and the students were heading to higher ground. I was assigned to go cover it. (click to read story)
After quickly eating one of Hart’s delicious ham sandwiches, I ran out the front door. As I sat in the cab looking out the window at the Pacific Ocean, I couldn’t help but think about the 2004 Asian tsunami which killed 230,000 people.
Thankfully luck was on Fiji’s side on Wednesday, September 30. The tsunami warning was lifted and the island went untouched by any natural disaster.
Unfortunately Samoa wasn’t so lucky. So far the death toll is at 150, but many more are still missing. Entire villages, towns and resorts have been wiped out.
As a Canadian I didn’t give natural disasters much thought back home. Living in London, Ont., I’m safe from earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, and tsunamis. The only natural disaster that poses any real threat to London is the tornado, but those are rare and often small. But now that I’m living in Fiji I can only pray that luck is on my side.
Hurricane season in Fiji starts in November and runs until April (that just happens to be the duration of my trip). It really makes me realize yet another thing I take for granted back home: environmental safety.
Ignorance truly is bliss.