‘It’s going to happen, sooner or later’

When Hurricane Iniki passed 300 miles south of the Big Island in September 1992, the category 1 storm provided much of our island with high surf amid a breezy day.

Days later, in the morning hours of Sept. 11, Iniki slammed Kauai’s south coast, just east of Waimea, as a category 4 hurricane packing 140 mph winds and gusts reaching 175 mph. Less than an hour later, Iniki’s eye passed over the island’s north coast, leaving in its wake catastrophic damage.

Ultimately, six would die, five on Kauai and one on Oahu, and more than 100 people would suffer injuries during and after the storm. Adjusted for inflation, the storm caused nearly $3 billion in damage with more than 14,000 homes damaged or destroyed, according to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

Electricity and telephone services were lost across the island with more than 50 percent of the lines and poles destroyed in the storm. Just 20 percent of the island had power restored four weeks later, according to the incident’s 1992 disaster survey report by the National Weather Service.

Kapaa, Kauai, resident and building supply store owner Jim Rosa lived through Iniki in 1992 and, before that, Iwa in 1982 with his family. He remembers Iniki’s hit clearly: from the barren store shelves picked over by last-minute preppers to the Matson shipping containers, 200- to 300-pound objects and uprooted trees whipping through the air.

While many prepared, especially those who lived through Iwa a decade before, Rosa said visitors and those new to the island did not. He hopes that residents and visitors take heed from history and be prepared in the event a hurricane or tropical storm approaches the islands this year.

“It’s going to happen sooner or later,” he said. “People need to take it seriously.”

Rosa’s experience with Iwa made him prepare better for Iniki, a storm that has prompted him to be even more ready for the “one” that has yet to hit.

Since Iniki, Rosa said he’s built a storm shelter out of an 8-foot-deep septic tank buried 3/4 of the way in the ground in an open pasture, away from trees. It can house safely eight people protected by 6-inch-thick cement walls that also feature portals and an air filtration system.

He also keeps provisions like 400 pounds of rice, Spam, 3 gallons of chili, toilet paper, seeds, medical supplies, water filters, flint and gas on-hand year-round.

Though some may question the need for the shelter and amount of provisions, Rosa said every person has to do what they think they would need to protect themselves and their family in the case of a storm. It’s also preparation for any other natural or manmade disaster or act of terrorism that leaves Hawaii on its own, he said.

“There are some people that take it this seriously,” he said about the shelter that cost between $6,000 and $10,000. “But, being through two hurricanes, it’s good security. … Hopefully we never have to use it.”

‘You can never be prepared enough’

Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said the Big Island needs to take time to be better prepared year-round — not just during hurricane season, which runs today through Nov. 30.

“You can never be prepared enough,” he said. “And, with the events happening in our country, like Oklahoma’s tornadoes recently, you need to be prepared for any and all types of disasters.”

Being prepared, however, doesn’t mean just having a checklist, items ready and knowing where shelters are, but also talking to your family about what it is we’re vulnerable to on the Big Island, including hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, flooding and other disasters and making real plans, he said.

“How many parents talk to their kids about what to do if their kids are home alone and there’s an earthquake?” Oliveira asked. “Take that opportunity now because knowing ahead makes it easier.”

Residents and visitors should also sign up for notification systems offered by the Hawaii County Civil Defense and Hawaii Police Department, or take part in a Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT, training to be able to help first responders after an incident, he said.

And, when a warning siren blares, it means to turn on a radio and listen, unless in the case of a local earthquake, when residents need to take higher ground, he added.

Though, organization’s like the American Red Cross and government entities suggest being prepared for three days, Oliveira said it’s a good idea to have enough supplies on hand to last longer because it may take time for a barge to arrive with supplies after a storm.

“Ninety percent of what we need is coming via barge,” he said, later adding that if you are unable to afford or store that much, anything is better than nothing. “You need a week to 10 days minimum of resources.”

He also stressed residents need to be mindful during the time of recovery. A big reason it took so long to restore power to homes on Kauai was because utility poles and lines were cut while trying to clear roadways, he said.

“It was with good intention but it was done without long-range forethought,” he said.

NOAA expects
quiet season

Hawaii’s hurricane forecasters are calling for a relatively quiet 2013 tropical cyclone season for the Central Pacific Ocean Basin.

Projected climate conditions point to a below-normal hurricane season for the basin, an area located north of the equator spanning from 140 degrees west longitude to the International Date Line. Forecasters are calling for one to three tropical cyclones this year, said Mike Cantin, a warning coordination meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center.

Last year, two to four tropical cyclones — a category that includes tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes — were forecast to pass through the Central Pacific. Just one, Tropical Storm Daniel, passed south of the islands during July.

On average, the Central Pacific annually sees four to five tropical cyclones in its waters, Cantin said. The Central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. The number of storms has ranged from zero, most recently as 1979, to as many as 11 in 1992 and 1994.

Dispelling the myths

While some say, “a hurricane has never hit the Big Island,” or “the mountains and volcanoes will protect us,” Cantin said that is not the case. In the late-1800s, the Kohala Cyclone clipped North Hawaii.

“All parts of the state have a history of tropical storm or hurricane impact,” he said. “There’s a history of them and most of us haven’t lived through the entire time span and we often forget about these.”

The Big Island gets some protection from cooler waters to its east and a high-pressure system that hovers north and east of the island, he said.

That’s a possibly why storms seem to approach the island, but veer south before re-curving north toward Kauai, which is furthest west from the high-pressure system.

However, if the high-pressure system weakens or moves, it can leave the Big Isle vulnerable, he cautioned.

And, though the island’s mountains can weaken a storm, it will still pass, packing high winds and torrential rains, Cantin said.

“Volcanoes and mountains don’t protect us,” he said, noting storms have had catastrophic impacts on mountainous areas in the Philippines, Taiwan, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. “They’ve all been pounded by hurricanes.”