Older residents were helped from damaged houses.

People abandoned cars in the streets.

Some took only a coat.

Others grabbed documents, medicine, water, or photographs.

There was no time to pack properly.

There was no time to decide what was important.

The instruction was simple:

Get to higher ground.

And everyone understood that every minute mattered.

The Sea Began to Change

Then something strange happened.

People near the coastline noticed the ocean behaving differently.

The water began pulling away.

At first, it looked almost beautiful.

The shoreline seemed to expand.

Wet sand appeared where water had been moments earlier.

Small boats tilted awkwardly in exposed areas.

Fish were visible in places that were normally underwater.

Some people stopped to stare.

Others began recording.

But those who understood what the retreating water could mean were terrified.

The ocean was not simply disappearing.

It was drawing backward.

Preparing.

The shoreline became strangely quiet.

Then someone shouted:

"Run!"

A distant wall of water was approaching.

The First Wave

It did not look like an ordinary wave.

It was broader.

Darker.

More powerful.

The water advanced across the coast with enormous force.

It reached the seawall.

For a brief moment, the barrier appeared to hold.

Then the water surged higher.

It spilled over.

The sound was deafening.

Water crashed into streets.

Vehicles began moving.

At first, they rolled.

Then they floated.

Then they collided.

A parked car struck another vehicle and spun sideways.

A small truck was pushed across an intersection.

Objects that had been stationary only seconds earlier became dangerous projectiles.

Water poured through low-lying neighborhoods.

Residents who had not evacuated quickly enough ran toward higher ground.