Hurricane Havoc

[pzarquon]

Shortly after Hurricane Charley tore through, Florida got whipped again by Hurricane Frances. And with winds still gusting, now folks are worried about Hurricane Ivan.

Hawaii has gone so long without a hurricane strike, it's scary. The next one, I fear, will be a big one. And it'll hit after we've all become used to false alarms, and a few missing shingles, and - in Honolulu - the assumption that the storm will always turn at the last minute and take out a neighbor island instead.

The hurricane season is relatively young, but so far here in the Pacific things are relatively quiet. Then again, Howard's out there, which means an "I" storm is far behind. And history has shown that we have good reason to worry about those "I" storms (Iniki, Iwa).

Do you have any particularly vivid memories of hurricanes past? How do you think you'll fare when the next one inevitably hits?

[Linkmeister]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

Do you have any particularly vivid memories of hurricanes past? How do you think you'll fare when the next one inevitably hits?

Funny you should ask.

[pzarquon]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

Great story, Link!

The weird thing is, while Iniki is more contemporary, I remember Iwa better. It was 1982, and I was eight years old. The day before she it, I came down with the chicken pox. I remember lying in my mom's bed at home, covered with pink lotion, wondering why the room was so dark even at noon.

I went to the window, which overlooked Pearl Harbor (we lived high above Pearlridge), and saw a sight that shook me to the core. The sky was almost pitch black, with a tiny hole above Aloha Stadium, though which sun streamed and seemed to stir a swirl of smoke (in reality, pouring rain). I never looked out the window again, for the rest of that storm.

We lost several shingles off our roof, but a couple of neighbors lost roofs entirely.

Even weirder, when I saw "Ghostbusters" a couple of years later (I think?), one of the scenes of the storm gathering above the skyscraper reminded me eerily of what I saw out our `Aiea window that day...

By the way... do you know your Central/North Pacific Hurricane Names? I think we're up to Alika (first name on list three). Trivia: After Iniki, its place on the list was taken by Iolana.

[adrian]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

Like someone said, I think god is punishing Florida because of Bush (both of them; the gov and pres).

But I actually feel sorry for them. I just hope that people learn to escape the wrath of hurricanes when they have the chance.

[pzarquon]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

Like someone said, I think god is punishing Florida because of Bush (both of them; the gov and pres).

I don't think the families of the 30 or so people killed (that we know of so far) by these storms would appreciate your humor. And since my wife's family is in Daytona Beach, you can bet I take the seriousness of these hurricanes, and all storms, quite personally.

Let's try and keep politics out of this one, okay?

[Mocha]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

My son just reminded me that we are still in hurricane season. We keep bottled water, batteries, first aid kit and extra pet food handy but don't ever think that this will happen to me. I think the complacent feeling is what can get us into trouble. Seeing what Floridians had/have to go through everytime there's a hurricane warning is no fun...I wouldn't want to go through that, but being reminded of the fact that it could and has happened here in Hawaii...I try to keep alert.

[Linkmeister]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

Something else few people remember: if you take daily meds, get a supply ahead of time. You don't know when the pharmacy will reopen or when the roads will be clear.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

Here's another useful web page for keeping track of the storms both in the Pacific and the Atlantic.

[Mocha]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

Thanks for the link Glen...scary stuff hurricanes! But you've got to be prepared for the worst. Hope the Floridians don't have to turn around and meet headon with yet another one!

[Ailina]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

My brother lives in Orlando, and he had to evacuate to Georgia. He has no idea what he's going to see when he gets back.

We had to evacuate year before last when Hurricane Lili came through our region in Louisiana. It really wasn't as bad as I expected. Not a whole lot of property damage, but it took months for the city to clean up all the debris.

I remember Iniki. I was in Mililani, and our newborn son was just a little over a month old. I didn't ever think I'd see the trees in Mililani do what they were doing then, and I kept thinking about how bad it must be on Kaua`i.

Yeah. September 11, 1992. And was it the following year that had island-wide blackout?

[helen]

Re: Hurricane Havoc

I was on Oahu when Iwa and Iniki came through. And from an Oahuan stand point, Iwa directly affected us more than Iniki did. We had rolling backouts for at least a few weeks after it hit and I think we had at least two total island blackouts in 1983 that was attributed to damage of the power system from Iwa.

For myself all I lost from Iwa was the food in the refridgator.