Certainly a map can help with this story. A map showing each of the refuge centers. A map that could be opened on a desktop, tablet or smartphone. A map that could show the refuge centers around a user's location. A map app that could be developed quickly.
It took me about one hour. I used ArcGIS Online and created a web map combining map services from the City and County of Honolulu along with data points for the refuge centers. I made several copies of this web map, each zoomed in on a different area on Oahu. I then created an ArcGIS Online group and gallery for the web maps.The gallery is still online.
You can view it at this link:
Oct 27, 2012 Oahu Tsunami Refuge Center Maps
I used Twitter to share links to the gallery and to each of the regional maps using the #hitsunami hashtag that was used during the event. Interestingly, though maybe not surprisingly, the regional map links were re-tweeted more than the gallery link.
The first wave arrived at 10:28 pm (22:28) local time. Fortunately for Hawaii, the tsunami was only 2.5 feet high and there were no immediate reports of damage. While the evacuation was a necessary precaution given the uncertainty in predicting tsunami wave heights, in this case residents and visitors were soon able to resume their normal activities.
