We stopped in at the Elks Club on Waikiki Beach on Friday afternoon during the much-publicized King Tide.
The bar, lounge, and dining room–all just feet from the water–were operating as normal, except that the tables closest to the waves breaking on the seawall were not in use.
This was the view around 4:30 p.m. The rising surf definitely added a new dimension to the unusually high tide.
But have you noticed that the King Tide is getting hyped a lot more here than in other places?
Most of the stories about the King Tide found in a quick Google search were from here in Hawaii.
A story from Florida focused on the dangers to nesting seabirds.
An understated story broadcast in Connecticut reported: “You may not know this but today’s high tide on Long Island Sound is the highest high tide of the entire year!”
In Boston, WCVB reported: “‘King tide’ likely to cause minor coastal flooding.”
Here in Hawaii, a lot more resources are going into reporting on these high tides than is happening elsewhere. Is it just the we focus more on weather? Is it the specter of future sea level rise? Or is it just a good excuse to report from the beach with sun and splashing waves all around?
Discover more from i L i n d
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The canal by your house Ian at the park was right up the bridge….never seen that before…ever
Great photo!
Okay…. so, it’s noon and nobody asked, are you an Elk? Please tell us this story.
Listening to this on the 10pm news (KGMB) while here in Spain (good to have news in English!) we had also noted that this filled an unusually large segment of the news program. We had concluded that it meant the violent/sensational events were down, a good thing.
News stations absolutely drool over hurricanes and tsunamis. until the life-threatening disaster becomes a total dud. Many a video of a visibly disappointed reporter standing in a blue parka, rambling at 400 words a minute …… about a gentle mist and flat water. “better safe than sorry” does not have to mean living in a bunker with 50 gallons of water and gasoline. there’s something very selfish about buying out all the water at Costco.
It’s a bigger deal in Hawaii because the King Tides are occurring on top of an 8-inch regional high sea level event. Our King Tides are, as a result, having a greater impact than the tides everywhere else.