‘On 9 January 2018, at approximately 8:51 p.m. local time (02:51 10 January UTC), a magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck in the Yucatán Basin of the Caribbean Sea, 44 kilometres (27 mi) east of Great Swan Island off the coast of Honduras.[1] The earthquake was felt across Central America’ … ‘Tsunami advisories were issued for certain areas by the U.S. Tsunami Warning Center.’
I was in San Pedro at the time, and we didn’t know what to expect. The odd sirens were released as a warning I didn’t understand, and Mr. Z.Cardenas stopped by my house on his way back from a class that was just cancelled. He explained that a tsunami might be coming our way, to seek shelter in a concrete building, if possible 3rd floor or above. I thanked him, grabbed Tobi, a bottle of water and a blanket.
Why would I need a blanket, if expecting a tsunami? It would only help me sink faster, right?
Thinking about it later, I realized, this was because of the sirens I would hear as a child, growing up in war time Croatia. When the sirens went off, we would go into the atomic shelters that many buildings had underneath the ground level. I remember those shelters as being cold, and I am guessing that is why I instinctively grabbed a blanket.
I met a young woman, a complete stranger, that took me and Tobi to her friend’s house to shelter. There was about 5 or 6 adults, a child and another dog. They didn’t even ask any questions about who I am, or said anything about Tobi. This tells you all you need to know about Belizean people. Their kindness and sensibility is what makes people come back, and stay longer.
Waiting in that 3rd floor flat, my feeling of safety quickly vanished when I realized, the town’s water and electricity were not shut off while the whole island was waiting for the tsunami. The TV was on, showing the receded water, a frightening sight nobody has seen before, as Belize had no previous recorded experience of this nature.
I realized, if the water comes, we’re dead anyway. Even though we were on the 3rd floor, if we don’t drown, we would get electrocuted anyway.
I didn’t say this out loud, because I knew we wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, and I didn’t want to inflict panic.
I just silently asked the young woman, Maria, who brought me there: ‘Should I text my mom?’ -’No’, she said. ‘We might be OK, and you would make her worry for no reason, and if it happens, she will find out anyway’.
And we waited…
I poured myself a rum and coke, and sat down. Drink in one hand, the other hand on Tobi, looking at him, looking for signs of upcoming danger that animals can sometimes emulate so accurately. He was calm. ... 'Stupid potlicker, how would he know anyway' , I thought.
‘They’ (tsunami warnings) ‘were later cancelled after further monitoring. No tsunami was generated since the earthquake was an almost pure strike-slip on a near vertical plane, producing little upward movement of the sea floor that would cause a large displacement of water.'
And we were safe. The receded water came back in slowly, there was no flooding, no wave, no destruction.
This was a wake up call for me, just at the beginning of 2018.
I realized, I wouldn’t have liked to be anywhere else than where I currently was, doing anything other than being a local vet, surrounded by these incredible people, with having met my soul mate who quietly sat by my side.
I can’t go without drawing a parallel, in my own life, to my current situation.
And for this privilege, I am very grateful.