A cyclone north of the Marshall Islands, near Wake Island, generated 10-14 foot sea swells. This came in from the north west which is unusual for this part of the Pacific. Normally the waves and winds come from the northeast, driven by the tradewinds. This event, coupled with the seasonal high tide (~5 feet) we were having at the time, swamped Roi-Namur which is only 6 feet above sea level.

The first event came on 7 December with our high tide around noon and caused some flooding, road and seawall damage. Twelve hours later, a little after midnight on 8 December the tide was even higher and the damage to the island was even greater ...knocking down or moving buildings, stripping trees and vegetation from the shorelines, depositing sand and rocks everywhere and sending massive amounts of saltwater across the island. The worst part was the flooding contaminated our lens wells and the dry season was just starting. Fresh water to drink was going to become an issue.

A few weeks later the US Air Force installed some portable ROWPU's (Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Unit) so that we could process the water to fill our water tanks. They remained here until the start of the rainy season (June to December) and departed leaving us full tanks and rain on the way.