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1998 First Place Winner
Story by Isaac Goya
Interviewee: Father Tom Goya
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MY DAD AND THE 1960 TSUNAMI
In 1960 my Dad was in High School and lived with his family near Lyman Museum. My Grandpa and his family owned and ran Goya Brothers Service Station, May′s Fountain and Ellen′s Liquors at the corner of Bishop and Kamehameha in Hilo.
On May 22, 1960 a South American earthquake generated a tsunami and a statewide tsunami alert was issued at about 6:45 PM. Dad and his family went down to the family business to move the expensive merchandise and important papers to the second floor storage room. At 11pm the police evacuated the area as the tsunami was predicted to hit around midnight. Dad and his family went home to sleep.
On May 23, 1960 the tsunami hit. At about lam in the morning a strange sound woke up Dad and his family. A 20−foot wave crashed into Hilo Bay at 1: 00. Dad said he heard a large roaring sound, ripping metal, loud booms from blown electrical transformers and the power went out. The house was dark, there was no power, and everyone was in shock.
At dawn my Grandpa, Dad, and my Uncle Harold went by car to a spot about where Burger King is today. You could not drive any closer to the Bay because there was a 20-foot pile of rubbish all along Hilo Bay. They climbed up the pile and looked over and saw only a vast open space where formerly the houses and businesses of downtown Hilo had been. The only building Dad could see standing was the Hilo Theater, located across from where Texaco is today. Dad could not believe his eyes; he was totally in shock.
They walked to the location of the family business and all that was left was a flat cement slab that looked freshly poured. The wave had sandblasted off every speck of oil and grease. There was not any sign of the buildings or their contents. Everything had been destroyed. They found the stores 2000 pound safe on bayfront by where the Ironworks building is today. Uncle Harold helped my Great Grandpa clean out the safe. Dad says Uncle Harold remembers his job was to iron the money to dry and save it. Dad says they found liquor bottles that had never been opened that were near full of sand. Dad could not believe the force of the wave could put sand into a closed and sealed bottle.
The most memorable possession Dad says he lost was an autographed baseball signed by Babe Ruth that was on display in the soda fountain. Dad says he will always remember the old fountain. All the teenagers hung out there and had a good time. The sound of that wave, the sight of the pile of rubble and the vast destruction sight when they climbed
over the rubbish is something Dad will always remember. He still thinks about the 61 people that died that night arid the 43 that were injured.
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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
email:
Last Revised November 2007
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