Is Hawaii ready for stronger storms? Officials emphasize the need to prepare now

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii has many similarities to the islands that have been battered by Hurricane Beryl — tropical settings, resort areas, marinas and harbors, and similar construction methods.

With hurricane season underway, officials urge preparation as it “only takes one.”

Beryl rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane with sustained winds near 165 miles per hour, similar to Hurricane Iniki 32 years ago which caused $3 billion in damage on Kauai and caused seven deaths.

For 32 years now, Hawaii leaders have been fearing a repeat.

“You know we’re looking at Category 4, these are the types of impacts that you just can’t really just respond our way out of,” said Honolulu Emergency Management Director Hiro Toya.

He said Oahu is in a precarious situation with densely populated areas and shoreline communities. And, all the islands have evacuation challenges.

“We do have significant vulnerabilities here,” Toya said. “One is our geographic isolation. We’re much further away from help than some of the jurisdictions that have been affected by this storm…You can’t just drive over to the next jurisdiction over. You’re going to have to evacuate somewhere on island.”

State and county leaders have been nudging Hawaii toward resilience, but it takes money.

One bill at the Legislature this year would have required all new public structures built to withstand a Category 5 hurricane — but the measure died.

Another bill to increase funding for the hurricane relief fund also died.

Sen. Sharon Moriwaki said lawmakers did approve some money to widen our shorelines.

“$4 million was appropriated for the beach restoration. But it’s how do we bring the sand back in because the sand protects our shoreline,” she said.

Moriwaki also said funding was also approved to continue the Waikiki Resilience and Adaptation Plan, which was due out later this year.

“We funded $800,000 last session for the study to continue into phase two…This year we’re hoping to move into a much more serious ‘how much will it cost?’ ‘Who’s to pay?’ ‘Who’s responsible for what?,’” she said.

The Hawaii National Guard also runs annual disaster exercises across the state to maintain communication skills among the various agencies that would respond to a major hurricane.

But as we saw during the Maui Fires, emergency plans can be overpowered by mother nature. That time the hurricane was 5,000 miles away.

“This is a real problem if we’re sleeping at the wheel, so to speak. Because it’s happening in all places, whether its the Caribbean or Florida, we’re all under attack,” Moriwaki said.

Forecasters are also tracking Tropical Storm Aletta in the far eastern Pacific, but it is not expected to be a threat to land.

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