This crummy shot was taken as I was shaking with adrenalin after just having narrowly escaped this largest wave of the event. The wave crashed over the seawall and down Ali Drive where I had been standing moments before. I had rushed across the street, up the stairs of the bar in the upper left frame, and jumped onto the roof of the shop overlooking this scene.

This was the view as the water receded during the trough of a wave. Shot looking from Ali Drive seawall towards Kailua pier. Moments later, the sea rushed back in a loud roar (see next pic in series)...

This is the view as the water rushed back in as the wave crested. A second after taking this photo, the wave crested the seawall and I was running back across the street for high ground...

This is the two previous images combined to show side-by-side the extreme tidal difference between the trough and crest of the wave.

This is an Ali Drive shop owner watching yet another wave spill over the seawall and into his shop. The view is looking south down Ali Drive.

Got Sushi? Just grab a fish as they flop their way down Ali Drive...

This and the next shot was taken standing on the Ali Drive seawall at the very height of a wave cresting, looking east towards sunrise and the Kailua church. I must admit that it was pretty foolish of me to stand here as several waves did previously crest over this wall. But I felt safer then the fellow-fool in the background standing below sea-level of all that water and energy...

This shot shows the damage caused to Ali Drive. Whole blocks of pavement were uplifted and broken apart by the tsunami waves. Imagine the power in the waves to cause this...

A cropped version of the previous photo with a close-up view of the destruction.

This is Kailua pier nearly underwater as a tsunami wave crests. I'm standing on the Ali Drive seawall seconds away from jumping and running for my life...

But I didn't jump and run! Instead I stood my ground to capture this image showing in the same position the wave as it receded. See the next photo for this and the previous image combined for comparison...

The two previous images combined to show in comparison the crest and trough of the same wave...

The stairway at Kailua pier looking like some freakish waterfall as a tsunami wave receded. Check the guy at the end of the pier - when the wave crested he had climbed a light pole to save his life...

A view looking towards the Kailua pier stairs in the previous photo which are now completely submerged.

This is a shot of the second largest wave of the tsunami event. The wave is rushing over the wall where moments before I had stood and took the previous series of photos. It was getting light and more people were viewing the waves which had begun to subside in intensity when suddenly this big one struck. The elderly man on the right was standing near me when I ran. He got knocked over by the wave and I thought he was dead! But luckily, he got up and ran over to where I was safe...

A cropped version of the previous photo. You can see the power and force of the rushing wave in the background where moments before this guy had fallen and nearly been swept away. Although soaking wet, I'm sure this guy is very thankful he's alive to never do this again!

This car being swamped on Ali Drive was parked here moments before by a shop owner checking on his business. He drove onto the street when it was dry - incorrectly assuming the worse was over. Little did he know...

A view of the Kailua pier boat ramp as a tsunami wave recedes showing the sheer force and volume of water. The guy in the scene is the same shop owner from previous photos and the same one who stood on the end of the pier and climbed a light pole to save his o'kole. We were the only two persons crazy enough to be out there - but he was definitely crazier then I was!