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Hawaii tsunami warning: Woman stays in condo with daughter, unwilling to make 15-min walk
A woman has shared a TikTok video where she explains why she is refusing to leave her condo in Honolulu, Hawaii, despite a tsunami warning
A woman has shared a TikTok video where she explains why she is refusing to leave her condo in Honolulu, Hawaii, despite a tsunami warning. Shelby K Blackburn explained in her TikTok video that she would have to walk 15 to 20 minutes with her toddler to reach a tsunami-safe area – a journey she is unwilling to undertake.
Instead, Shelby is planning to wait out the tsunami in her condo near Waikiki beach – a popular tourist area that is currently seeing a mass exodus as panicked locals and travellers try to escape.
A tsunami has already hit coastal areas of Russia’s Kuril Islands and Japan’s large northern island of Hokkaido after a powerful, 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Russia early Wednesday. Warnings are also in place for Alaska, Hawaii and other coasts south toward New Zealand, reported AP.
Tsunami threat update from Waikiki Beach
In her video on the “tsunami threat update from Waikiki Beach”, Shelby Blackburn explained that she is in a condo located “multiple blocks away from” the actual beach. She is on the 13th floor of the building.
“I have no car. And even if I did try to leave in a car right now, the streets are completely backed up with people trying to leave the beach. And the closest tsunami-safe zone is a 15 to 20 minute walk that I would have to make with my daughter,” she explained. “I feel like the best move is to stay right here,” she added.
Shelby said there is a “sense of urgency” in the area to get away from the beach. However, she added that multiple other neighbours have decided to stay put on higher floors.
She panned her camera to show the traffic jam that has built up in the Waikiki area. “I am certainly taking this seriously. I just have nowhere to go.
“The only place I know to go is a 15 minute walk that I would have to take alone with my daughter and I am not willing to risk if something would happen during that walk,” she explained.
