Last night after getting in from work I did my usual, make a cup of Joe, turn on MSNBC to watch the midnight (ET) repeat of Rachel Maddow, fire up the PC to check email, blogs, etc. and decide what, if anything, to post at Focus On The Rainbow.
Usually after Maddow I flip over to CNN to catch the AC360 replay but stayed with MSNBC for a while to watch Ed Shultz, then after a few minutes turned on CNN and I could not believe what I was watching.
At that point less than an hour after the quake hit Japan, CNN was mirroring coverage from NHK which when I first turned it on was showing video replays of the quake from both inside and outside perspectives and a replay of what turned out to be the first tsunami wave.
After a while there was helicopter coverage of a tsunami wave cutting across agriculture land and watching this live was heart stopping. Then after many minutes of coverage another helicopter was panning yet another battery of tsunami waves heading towards the shore.
Seeing vehicles on roads driving but only allowed the pre-determined route of escape where the roadway took them and with viewers full knowing from the wide angle shot that there was going to be no escape for the people in the vehicles it was both surreal and heart breaking at the same time. Much like watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie knowing in advance what was to become of the characters in the movie.
But this was no movie nor CGI special effects, it was live, in the moment and very, very real.
Later when coverage was discussing where and how the tsunami would affect the Pacific region I went back on the PC and went to the websites of TV stations in Hawaii to watch their live coverage of tsunami warnings for the islands.
I've seen alot of things both as a reporter and a casual observer over the years.
I remember the day the bells starting ringing on the old AP wire machine when breaking news was moving across the wire that US military aircraft had an incident in the desert which were part of an operation to Iran to rescue the Iranian hostages. The events of 9/11 are forever part of my collective memory. And now the images of tsunami waves heading towards unsuspecting and helpless people will forever remain.
I finally turned off the TV and went to bed about 5:30 AM.
Needless to say I didn't sleep very well.