No one can explain in words the catastrophe that devastated the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011. The fifth largest earthquake in recorded history was quickly followed by a horrific tsunami, which surged from Japan to our coastal shore.

Questions run through every person’s mind but more-so through the minds of seasoned Sailors.  They know their shipmates stand on each shoreline and pier along the way. Thanks to the traveling nature of the Navy men and women to move from one duty station to the next, many comrades do their best to keep in touch over the distances.

Worries and concerns are not only felt by those in uniform but also the families. Friendships that budded at previous duty stations now continue oceans away. For one NAS Whidbey Island family, the Pacific Ocean is most on their mind.

This morning my daughter sat on my bed watching the tsunami as it reached Maui, Hawaii. 

“Abby lives in Maui,” she said, as the tears rolled down her cheeks.  Abby happens to be her best friend and she just moved to Hawaii last year. I assured her to the best of my ability that the family was all right as I left for work.

This, of course, leads to the question how do we really know they are okay?

The good news is the Navy has a system called NFAAS, which stands for the Navy Family Accountability and Assessment System. This website was established by the Navy to help locate military personnel, DoD employees, contractors and family members, in the event of a major disaster or attack. 

Personnel log into the website and report their status. This is exactly how, approximately four hours after the tsunami hit the coastline north of Tokyo, news networks in the United States were able to report all military and their families in Japan were accounted for.

As far as Abby, the NFAAS notification requirement for Maui was not initiated until after I had already heard from her family and the girls had a chance to talk.

Abby shared with my daughter that it was weird that all the fish were in the streets after the wave had receded. My daughter quickly chimed in with true resourcefulness when she said, “Looks like you don’t have to go fishing for dinner. Just walk outside and pick one up.”

By ten o’clock here in Oak Harbor the report of military loss was only that of mooring lines breaking in Guam. I am sure this eased the hearts of many a shipmate throughout Puget Sound.