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1997 Second Place Winner
Story by Sara Cunningham
Interviewee: Thor Wold
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My Thirteenth Year
When the 1960 tsunami hit Thor Wold′s world was very much like mine. He was 13 years old and a seventh grader at Hilo Intermediate. His father owned Hawaiian Fern-Wood Lumber Mill located across the Afook−Chinen Civic Auditorium.
The mill was located in the tsunami flood zone but they had been very lucky, so far, no tsunami reached them. Every time there was a warning they would quickly go down to the mill and gather important files and load equipment like planers, sanders and saws. They would move it up Manono Street to the Hawaii Community College which was on higher ground and safe. Sometimes there would be warnings all night long and kept Thor and his family alert and anxious. At Hilo Intermediate the students who looked like zombies were the ones who lived near the shore or who had family businesses down there. They, too, spend much of the night evacuating and salvaging as much as they could. Most of them were too frightened to sleep even when they did have a chance.
On May 22 a tsunami warning was sent out. Thor and his family had moved all that they could out of their mill. After they moved everything up to the Hawaii Community College on Manono Street all they could do was wait. The radio hummed in the background, giving strict instructions to evacuate out of low-lying areas. It was dark but it was clear evening.
After the noise ceased residents were trying to make their way back to their homes and businesses. But the police wouldn′t let them through because of the possibility of looting and destruction. Thor′s family and other Hilo residents could only wait for the sun to come up. Although it was only a few more hours until sunrise it felt like days for the Wolds.
When the sun finally came out Thor and his father went down to the mill. It was really quite obvious that the damage was going to be severe. As soon as they opened the door of the warehouse a fish flopped out as the mud slid slowly out from the room. They looked at each other knowingly as they realized it was going to be a long clean-up.
As they stepped over the threshold the stench enveloped them. "Ho, was stink. To dis day I can still remember the smell." It was as if the sea had coughed up the bottom of the ocean. There was a foot of what seemed to be mud but was really something else, possibly raw sewage from the Hilo Bay. In the back of the warehouse were two boats that had been swept in there by the wave. They were now submerged in the "mud".
The clean-up began, they swept out the "mud" and cleaned up the machines that could still work. It took a lot of time and money. Thor′s father had to borrow money from the federal government for the clean−up. Sadly, only six years later he was forced to sell Hawaiian Fern−Wood to pay back the loan.
The Wold′s close family friends owned the Army Surplus store in downtown. During the tsunami it got knocked off its foundation and rammed into the old Mamo theater. Everyone had big "Tidal Wave Sales" to get rid of merchandise that had survived. The Wold′s helped the Army store′s set up for their sale by finding jeans, clothes and anything that could be salvaged, washed and sold. Behind the Wold′s home in Waianuenue was a fast running stream where they washed out the clothes of sand and salt and hung them to dry. Everyone needed to work quickly because cranes were coming in to demolish and clear former buildings that were damaged and were now rubble.
Everyday Thor and his brother, Lee would go to help clean−up at the mill because there was no school. The Hilo District schools had to be used as housing for the less fortunate whose homes had been washed away. The Hilo High School Class of 1960 did not participate in a graduation ceremony. Instead, seniors like Lee Wold received their diplomas in the mail.
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All materials © Copyright 1996-2007 Pacific Tsunami Museum Inc.
130 Kamehameha Ave Hilo, HI 96720 tel: 808-935-0926 FAX: 808-935-0842
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Last Revised November 2007
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