RAYTOWN, Mo. — Dorinda Richardson has lived through tsunamis, volcanoes, even Pearl Harbor. Now, she’s anxiously watching the potentially disastrous effects of a rare hurricane hitting the islands.
She was six when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She remembers the April Fool’s Day Tsunami of 1946 quite vividly.
“It was hugely devastating, no one escaped along the seashore,” she said.
The 50-foot wave killed 159 people. Now, Nicholson is watching the forecast of up to 20 foot waves on the Hawaiian Islands as Hurricane Lane moves ashore this weekend.
Nicholson hosts Hawaiian Civic Club of Kansas City meetings at her Raytown home. Friends were supposed to travel to Kansas City International Airport Friday from Hawaii to teach a class Saturday on making leis.
They couldn`t get out of Hawaii. So many of the tourists are trying to leave, so that had to be cancelled,” Nicholson said.
Hurricane Lane was packing winds of 74 to 95 mph Friday night as the storm was downgraded to a Category 1 as it moved closer to shore. As the storm slows, the rain that is revered in island dances like the hula, now threatens it’s people with potential flooding and mudslides.
Since the civic club instructors are stuck in Hawaii, Nicholson plans to practice the hula with members instead Saturday.
Unfortunately, she said she only knows dances to try to bring rain, not to keep it away.