Tsunami Warning

With honesty and sensitivity, Taylor Morrison depicts the devastating tsunami in Hilo, Hawaii, in 1946 that killed 159 people and led to the development of an improved American warning system. Our warning system was not tested until 1957, when seismographers detected a massive underwater earthquake of 8.3 in the Pacific Ocean. They contacted the military and police in Hawaii, who evacuated the coast and saved countless lives. Tragically, these same warning networks were not in place in the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, when a tsunami killed over 230,000 people. Morrison's mixed-media illustrations are versatile and depict a peaceful Hawaii, with its spectacular green mountains, then a ferocious Hilo tsunami. Morrison is gifted in action illustrations, such as figures running, people clinging, and boats speeding to deeper water for safety, and he offers some truly unique perspectives. In one undersea illustration, the view is from within a trench up towards the underside of a boat. In another high-impact pair of pictures, we see a lighthouse, as witnesses saw it, dwarfed by a hundred-foot wave then as a mass of crumbled concrete. Morrison also shows scientific instruments with accuracy and originality. Sharks encircle an underwater pressure gauge that sends a signal to a buoy then a satellite then a research station. As the author points out, tsunamis do not have a season; therefore, coastal residents must be prepared year-round. This engrossing book helps readers understand man's efforts in the face of one of our planet's most elusive natural disasters.