Marshall Islands
What are the odds 2 freak happenings in 1 week close the airport at Roi-Namur which houses the US Army's most sophisticated space-tracking equipment as part of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Test Site. Both happenings on the northern part of the island.
Freak waves cause damage at US army base, shut airports in remote islands
10:20 am on 22 January 2024
Powerful waves, driven by offshore storm surges, hit an important US military installation in the Marshall Islands on Saturday night, causing damage and resulting in the evacuation of all "non-mission personnel" from the island.
Flooding caused by the waves also hit two airports at Ailinglaplap Atoll, leaving rocks, coral and debris in their wake, keeping those airports closed for weeks.
A video circulating from Roi-Namur, an island at the northern end of Kwajalein Atoll, shows an approximately one-metre wave hitting the Army's dining hall, breaking down doors, knocking people down and washing them from outside into the facility.
Look what else happened last week at Kwajalein Atoll.
Jan 13, 2024A NOTAM warns aircraft to avoid the north of Kwajalein Atoll's runway due to radiation hazards. Flights are directed to use southern routes to ensure safety.
Click on 2nd link, story scrubbed.
Strange days indeed!
Did someone blow up a sub out there?
The average height above sea level of the Kwajalein Atoll is 1.8 meters (6 ft), so any significant sea wave will just wash over it. Similar problems on the north coast of the Hawaiian island of Kuai'i, causing the locals to build their houses on stilts at least head-high. Look up the statistics on sea states if you want "odds" of this happening. (The thing about "odds" is that it indicates a certainty of this happening, but not all the time.)
Most everything military on Kwaj are high-power radars for tracking of space and ballistic objects. They look upwards when operating. The warning is consistent with averting aircraft from the airspace through which these radars could be operating, to avoid microwave radiation. (That would be the correct term to use. Radars are notorious for this being a hazard. It could disable aircraft electronics.)