HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – Cleanup is underway in Hilo after tsunami waves flooded portions of the town Tuesday.

The SCP Hilo Hotel is located on Banyan Way, right in front of the famous Ice Pond.

It took just 30 seconds for the water to fill the entire porte cochere at the hotel.

Hotel workers say the water entered through the driveway and flooded low-lying areas, including at least 10 guest rooms. Some even found ocean fish swimming in the hotel.

“There was a huge wave that came in,” said general manager Breeani Kobayashi-Kuali’i. “It did lift some of our flooring, a lot of our furniture, a lot of our plants, but luckily our koi fish were okay.“

Kobayashi-Kuali’i said she and other hotel staff personally drove guests back to the hotel from the evacuation center. Some guests even stayed at her mother’s house.

“I’m glad everybody is safe,” she continued. “It got scary for a while, but it’s nice that everybody reacted quickly.”

“It started off scary, but because of the hospitality of bringing in her family, it became kind of a wonderful experience. A blessing,” said SCP guest Pamela Pruwett.

Matthew Pickett, general manager of the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel, said, “Last night we had a number of storm surges that came in through our breezeway area.”

Hilo’s devastating tsunami history from 1957 and 1960 is marked in the hotel’s picture window and in the memories of long-time residents. Lori Jones lost her uncle in the deadly waves 65 years ago, so she heeds the warnings.

“Oh yeah. Gives me a chill when I hear them. I don’t take them lightly,” she said.

The Coast Guard ordered commercial vessels to evacuate all harbors. Pride of America passenger Eric Anderson and his dad were rushing to the dock when the ship departed with his wife and young daughters.

“I was taken aback, they kind of left us, and we didn’t know what was going on. I wish they said ‘hey we are leaving’ before five minutes, 10 minutes out,” he said.

Anderson said that local tour van drivers took them to a shelter at Waiakea High School with 500 other people. Despite the tsunami scare, he’s thankful for the Hilo hospitality.

Hawaii County announced all beach parks are reopened. The public is asked to exercise caution in or around the ocean due to potentially dangerous currents.

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