Sixty years ago, in the middle of the night on March 27, 1964, Port Alberni was hit with a tidal waveâwhat we now call a tsunami. It was Good Friday, and most people were asleep.
The waveâactually a series of three wavesâwere a result of an earthquake off the coast of Alaska that measured 8.5 on the Richter scale.
The water funneled up the Alberni Inlet from the west coast, gathering speed as the inlet or canal narrowed and spilling over the shoreline.
The tsunami remains a pivotal event in the history of the Alberni Valley, even though the number of people who experienced it are dwindling.
Geo Monrufet was 15 years old in 1964 and his father owned the famed MV Lady Rose passenger and cargo vessel. His father received word that a tidal wave was on its way, so he and Geo drove from Sproat Lake to the city.
âWe arrived to see the first wave hit by the pulp mill,â Monrufet recalls.
âWe took the high ground to be able to get down to the Lady Rose dock. It had broken loose except for one rope; we were able to jump on board and Dad started the engine.â
Geo worked in the engine room while his father was in the wheel room, maneuvering the vessel into the harbour to ride the rest of the waves. Monrufet still chokes up when he remembers the experience.
Monrufet is part of the Port Alberni Maritime Heritage Society that has planned a special event on March 27 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Port Alberni tsunami. He and others will be sharing their stories and encouraging others to come and share theirs as well.
Michael Lyle was 14 years old in March 1964 and living with his aunt on Kitsuksis Road while his motherâa telephone operatorâlived in a home on Golden Street. Lyle remembers his mother was working the night shift on March 27.
âShe called and said thereâs going to be a tidal wave, and could we go to her house to get her dogsâŠwe got to the bottom of Kitsuksis Road and there was water. The water was already up to Mary Street and we werenât able to get to Golden Street,â he related.
He had to backtrack to Johnston Road. âWe could see houses and garages and stuff going down the river. There were boats up on the road. It was quite a while before we could get to my motherâs house.â When he finally made it the next day, he learned the dogs had spent their time on the couch and werenât affected by the six to eight inches of floodwater that had entered her home.
Lyle said once the waves receded âthere was a horrible stink. It was the black mud that came up from the bottom of the canal.â
Loretta Parkinson was working in Wardâs Cleaners at Second Avenue and Athol Street when the tsunami hit. She said the first she heard about the waves was from a phone callâfrom Seattle, Washington.
She was busy inside, where there are no windows.
âI didnât hear any alarms,â she said. âAs soon as I got down to the office I got a phone call.â
It was relatives from Seattle frantically asking if she was OK: they had heard about the earthquake in Alaska and the tidal waves that hit Port Alberni. It took a few minutes to calm them down and reassure them that she was fineâher home was well out of the inundation zone.
She said the commercial laundry was busy for weeks after the event. âWe got all the linens from the hotels in the low-lying areas,â she said. The Greenwood (where OceanâŠMarina is now), the Barclay Hotel, which was previously located at the bottom of Redford Street, the Somass Motel, Riverside Auto Court â they were all affected by flooding.
Unlike Parkinson, Bob Cole and some of his friendsâall teenagers at the timeâsaw the first wave hit. âWe saw the first swell at the bottom of Argyle Street,â Cole recalled. They were driving in Coleâs fatherâs car toward River Road.
He remembers the âin-betweenâ time, before a tidal wave hits, when water is drawn away from shore.
âThe Somass River went almost dry,â he said. âThen we saw sparks from the pulp millâ as the water surged. âThe next thing we see is a white pickup truck tumbling up the river.â
He said he could hear crunching and rumbling as the water surged.
He was driving on River Road when the water reached the road (it wasnât built up as it is today).
He turned right onto Josephine Street, he said, but he wasnât able to outrun the water even with the group pushing the car. He remembers seeing people fleeing their homes with boxes in their arms, and still regrets not stopping to help them.
âI called home after midnightâŠI said the clutch went and thereâs been a tidal wave,â he recalled. âDad said âyouâve told some tales, but this one takes the cake.ââ
Cole said witnessing the tsunami first hand âis something that sticks in my mind.â
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