Documenting nature’s fury

The view from the front steps of the Pacific Tsunami Museum is idyllic: a vista of Hilo Bay and the green, tree-filled space that lines its shores.

Inside the museum, the scene is more sobering. Photo-heavy exhibits show how the spacious waterfront got to be that way: It was wiped out by two devastating tsunamis in 1946 and 1960. The museum opened in 1998 to serve as a source of public information about tsunamis — and as a memory catalog for stories of those affected by the disasters.

With the recent publication of “Hawai’i Tsunamis,” a slim yet information-packed volume written by museum archivist Barbara Muffler, raising awareness and preserving history have a new outlet.

“People really learn through stories, through the experiences of others,” Muffler said Tuesday. “And in part, of course, the book also honors those who have passed.”

“Hawai’i Tsunamis” is part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images in America series, and features more than 200 photos from the museum’s archives. Through the captions, readers learn about the lives lost in the disasters, and how survivors built and rebuilt their town.

The book’s first chapter also offers explanations of the science of tsunamis. Later chapters spotlight more recent events; Hawaii Island had tsunami evacuations in 2010, 2011, and 2012.

Arcadia Publishing first reached out to the museum several years ago, before Muffler became archivist in 2008, about the project. There are 12 other Hawaii-themed books in the Images in America series.

“They had really wanted a book to be written that would tell the many compelling stories of survivors and would be illustrated by the many compelling images,” Muffler said. She’d never written a book before, but was up to the task.

Muffler estimated that the project took her about a year once she had started the research process. The museum’s archives include thousands of images taken during and after the tsunamis, and hundreds of interviews with survivors.

Turning lengthy interviews into extended photo captions was one of the project’s biggest challenges. “I focused in on taking a long story — something 20 pages long — and condensing it into a paragraph,” Muffler said.

It was something of an art, she said, but ultimately gave her even more familiarity with the museum’s archive.

Some photographs in the book had barely entered the archive before being published. Two recently acquired image collections had not been featured anywhere before, not even in the museum exhibits.

These include aerial photographs donated by James Kerschner, whose father was a naval commander at the United States air station in Hilo when the 1946 tsunami hit.

“I was very happy to bring that collection to light,” Muffler said.

One photo from the Kerschner collection shows a series of rolling tsunami waves moving across the bay. On the shore, streets are flooded and palm trees are half-submerged.

“It shows that devastation has already occured, so this is not the first wave,” Muffler said. “But to me, this image is just incredible.”

The book also includes new images of the 1960 tsunami, which were donated by Charles Hansen.

“I think, like when you give a talk, the hardest part is ‘What do you leave out?” Muffler said. “There’s so much to put in, so many other images and stories.”

In spite of the tough editorial choices and strict deadlines, Muffler said the process of researching, writing, and getting the creative sparks flying was rewarding.

“The truth of it is, I could write another book, I could write a volume two, and I would enjoy it,” she said. “I’m also an English major as well as a science major, so it was kind of neat to meld those two parts of me to produce that (book).”

Email Ivy Ashe at iashe@hawaii tribune-herald.com