By Jennifer R. Lloyd
From the San Antonio Express-News
The Alamo Heights High School band in Hawaii on a field trip is riding out the tsunami on the upper floors of the Outrigger Reef on the Beach hotel along Waikiki Beach in Honolulu.
Dick Smith, Alamo Heights' director of Human Resources and Communication, said district staff spoke with the band's director at about 8:30 a.m. CT, after the initial tsunami hit, and determined that the band students and chaperones are in a safe place and doing well.
Cindy Mikel, the band's director, said she moved the 53 students into rooms with the 12 chaperones at about 1:45 a.m. Hawaii-Aleutian Standard Time. The rooms are on the 15th, 16th and 17th floors. The students were allowed to return to their own rooms at about 5 a.m. HAST, or 9 a.m. CT.
Mikel said she first learned of the tsunami warning around dinner time last night. She bought about 200 bottles of waters and snacks so the students would have provisions. During the night, Mikel and others were able to watch the beach from their balconies.
“There was never a wall of water,” Mikel said. “What was interesting is we can see the ocean out of our balconies and I watched it almost the whole time. The water would recede and you could see the reef and the sand and it would come in right up next to the hotel.”
The band left San Antonio for Hawaii on Wednesday and Mikel said the band is scheduled to perform Sunday as guests of the Royal Hawaiian Band. They are scheduled to return Tuesday and, at this point, they do not anticipate returning early.
“I would think transportation is going to be clogged for a couple of days there and I think they'll probably stay at the hotel,” Smith said. “I don't have any indication that they'll come back early.”
Mikel said the band was supposed to spend today at a beach location called Secret Island on the northeast side of the island of Oahu, but she was unsure whether the beach would be open. If it is not, the students will spend a free day in the Waikiki Beach area.
Mikel, who is in her fifth year as band director, said the group had been to Hawaii a number of times, most recently four years ago.
Watch interview on KSAT 12 with Ms. Mikel in Hawaii during tsunami warning
