Josh Green, a 55-year-old doctor who grew up in a Jewish family in New York, quickly appeared at a press conference to announce that large waves would surround the entire Hawaiian archipelago and could cause flooding. The tsunami on Wednesday, caused by the 8.8 magnitude earthquake off the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, was approaching the coasts of the US Pacific state, and its Democratic governor, Green, ordered an immediate evacuation of coastal areas.
A countdown began for the arrival of the first waves, and Green got to work coordinating all security teams and alert systems, which were activated quickly and accurately. Two years ago, the governor had to deal with the worst forest fire in the last century in the United States, which devastated the Hawaiian island of Maui, where the first waves of about a meter and a half began to hit.
An hour and a half before the tsunami arrived, the beaches had emptied, and coastal hotels had evacuated their guests. Many tourists climbed to the hills to witness the impact of the waves, while authorities had also set up temporary shelters.
Green mobilized the military to open a passage in the mountains to clear the chaos of cars that had initially formed on a coastal exit route. He also coordinated with the coast guard to issue orders for ships to leave the ports until the threat passed and for vessels near the Hawaiian islands to remain at sea.
With the aftermath of the tsunami and the alerts already lifted, residents and local media highlighted in the success of the operation the work of Governor Green, who was communicating every minute about the progress of the waves, and the alert center, which has been monitoring tsunamis across the Pacific since 1960.
In recent months, Green's name has been mentioned as a candidate for the 2028 Democratic presidential race. "It would be an honor to help anyone. I could even be a potential candidate, but only if I have truly done a good job," he said in a recent interview with NBC News. Always very critical of President Donald Trump's policies, especially on immigration, Green ended up in Hawaii in 2000 when he was sent as a doctor, working in the Emergency Department and being awarded twice as Physician of the Year by the Medical Association of the island. After a decade in state politics, he was elected governor in 2022.