It could have been us ... the tsunami, the hurricane. And it still could be.

The underwater fault slipping off Diamond Head would give survivors of a giant earthquake about 10 minutes before a tsunami engulfed everything in its path. Above where I live, they found embedded in the rocks seashells brought in from some ancient tsunami.

There is an old Hebrew song with the words "Save me, Lord, the water is up to my neck." That is a song people everywhere get a chance to sing sometime.

I have heard people say about New Orleans folks that they were fools for building below sea level, so what did they expect? There is some truth to that. Seven generations ago, my farming ancestors picked a high plain 50 miles from the Mississippi — rich soil in the flood zone. No family lasts seven generations near a river.

But we can see many Dutch people living below sea level and living close by the dikes that keep the water from spilling down on them. Though half the country is below the dikes, the Dutch are not fools. If they want to be Dutch, they have no choice and nowhere to go except to engineer solutions that reclaim land.

Despite the usual damage done by politicians and the need to review everything because of global warming, the present Dutch system is built to withstand all storms from the sea except one so strong it would occur once in 10,000 years. The river dikes are designed to withstand a storm that might occur once in 1,250 years. They did that and it is inconceivable that they would have the social chaos, the delays, the "surprise" caused by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.

Our parish school has an evacuation drill that requires a quick exit down Kalaniana'ole Highway and up to a rise. The school made it below the required time. We have a buddy system so, at the signal, the older grades went downstairs and got their buddies and, together with teachers and staff, headed for higher ground at a quick pace. The younger ones, of course, had some trouble keeping up. Without being told to do so, the older kids picked up the slower younger ones and carried them to safety.

That is the only way we will make it if the waters do reach up to our necks. We will make it by looking out for each other, carrying others, and paying our fair share of the way.

The Rev. Halbert Weidner is an oratorian and a pastor of Holy Trinity in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.