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The Pacific Tsunami Museum is a repository for the Community of
Hawaii. It is based upon community participation and support.
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First Hawaiian Bank provided us with a permanent home. This seventy-year old
building on Kamehameha Avenue withstood both the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis and hopefully will
survive future tsunamis as well.
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Our volunteer staff greets you and explains our exhibits. Many of these guides are
tsunami survivors and have a wealth of experiences to share.
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Your tour begins at a map of pre-1946 Hilo Town. You can locate the commercial
buildings and small shops lost to the 1946 tsunami. This excellent map is from the
Lyman House Memorial Museum and was created by Pacific Tsunami Museum Board member Bob
Chow.
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The content for our first exhibit area was donated by Bishop Museum. It features
dramatic photos of major tsunami events that have impacted Hawaii.
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In the center of our museum you will find a collection of notebooks filled with survivor
stories, written by school children throughout the State. You can appreciate the
pain and courage of relatives and neighbors sharing their memories with these youngsters,
and with all of us.
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The Bottom Pressure Recorder on display is a scientific measuring device donated to us by
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Seattle. This device measures
changes in the ocean bottom and signals possible tsunami generation.
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When you walk to the back of the museum, you encounter a beautiful quilt made by students
and teachers of Laupahoehoe High and Elementary School and donated to the museum.
The quilt is a powerful tribute to those who lost their lives at Laupahoehoe Point
during the 1946 tsunami.
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As you turn left into the exhibit area, you are surrounded by what looks like a giant wall
of water towering overhead. This is our first new exhibit called
"Laupahoehoe." This display begins with the ancient Hawaiian legends of
the creation of Laupahoehoe Point and spans its history to the present community.
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Short video clips on the video touch monitors explain a little of the history of the
Laupahoehoe area and also feature tsunami survivor stories shared by some Laupahoehoe
residents. The interviews were filmed and the exhibit designed and built by
supporters of the museum.
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This is very much a community museum. The generous donations of photos from personal
collections and survivor stories are priceless. They teach volumes about the very real
threat of deadly tsunamis. You can appreciate all the effort and dedication that has
gone into the creation and perpetuation of the Pacific Tsunami Museum. Won't
you join us?
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