East Hawaii Happenings: Tsunami Story Festival

The annual Tsunami Story Festival was held recently, April 6, 2014, at Sangha Hall in Hilo.  Many survivors of the 1960 tsunami were in attendance, displays and reproductions of beloved Waiakea town businesses , maps and photos allowed attendees to appreciate all that was lost in the devastating tsunami. Story presentations personalizing the history were given by Audrey Furukawa and Terence Yoshioka.

In addition the evening included an "ono" (delicious) dinner, presentation of awards to poster contest winners from local schools, and a talk on disaster preparedness from Darryl Oliveira of Hawai'i County Civil Defense.  Everyone was reminded that April is Tsunami Awareness month and given small disaster preparedness kits.  The event was a  fundraiser for the Tsunami Museum.