Hawaii

Lori Dengler | A quick trip to Hawaii and a reminder that tsunamis can be deadly business

Published

2 years ago

May 25, 2024

Lori Dengler | A quick trip to Hawaii and a reminder that tsunamis can be deadly business

I spent last week in Hawaii. Before you get too jealous, it was a work trip, and I never got my feet wet. It was an excellent, informative and sobering trip and not entirely devoid of pleasure.

I have been part of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Tsunami Science & Technology Advisory Panel (TSTAP) for nearly two years. One can’t write about NOAA without acronyms, so please bear with me. In 1997, NOAA established a Science Advisory Board (SAB) with a responsibility to provide advice in the areas of research, education, resource management, and ocean hazards.

The Science Advisory Board is composed of experts outside of the NOAA organization — from academia, industry, and other government organizations. The SAB currently has five Working Groups — on Climate, Data Management, Ecosystems, Environmental Information, and Tsunamis.

Our tsunami group is small — eight voting members plus NOAA and USGS liaisons. Our focus is the end-to-end tsunami alerting system. That means we look at all aspects from detection of the tsunami source to analysis, dissemination, partners’ response and how everyone in harm’s way reacts. We listen to experts talk about modeling, new detection and analysis systems, social scientists who study messaging and evacuation behaviors, and everything in between. We don’t have money to dole out but report our findings on gaps, weaknesses, and strengths directly to NOAA.

Most of our meetings are remote and online but once a year we meet in person. Last year we convened at NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory where the tsunami research program is housed. This year was Hawaii with visits to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC), the Hawaii emergency management group, tsunami scientists at the University of Hawaii, and other organizations with tsunami responsibilities.

On Monday before our formal meetings started, I did a day trip to Hilo with Rocky Lopes, another TSTAP member and someone I have worked with for decades. I first met Rocky when he headed the Red Cross preparedness program. His research on what motivates people to take preparedness actions has always been a pillar of our outreach efforts on the North Coast. Fear is a poor motivator, give people the how-tos in a clear and positive way.

We were met in Hilo by two more long-time colleagues, Cindi Preller and Walter Dudley. Cindi is the director of the Pacific Tsunami Museum who I met decades ago in her various roles in NOAA’s tsunami program. Walt was a founder and now board president and scientific advisor to the museum.

The Pacific Tsunami Museum was founded in 1994 with the aim of preserving memories of past tsunamis. At the time, many of the survivors of the 1946 and 1960 tsunamis were aging and their recollections of what happened were in danger of being lost forever.

At first glance, preserving memories might seem like a thin premise on which to build a museum. Personal stories are more important than you might think. They provide evidence as to what happened in past tsunamis and fill out important details that water height measurements can’t depict. We learn about sideways surges and how the tsunami traveled over complex terrain. We also learn the human side — what triggered people to take action and what they did — critical data about evacuation behavior.

Stories are one of the most effective education tools for tsunami awareness and preparedness. Most of the accounts the museum highlights are from ordinary people, including children to the elderly. These stories bring immediacy to the moment and convey that it doesn’t take superhuman efforts or special skills to be a survivor. Knowledge and taking quick action are key.

In the 30 years since its founding, the museum has gone far beyond the original scope. It features exhibits on Hawaii’s tsunami hazards and what areas are at risk. It has become a hub for community outreach programs and training the next generation in not only safety precautions but how to become spokespeople themselves.

Field trips are central to the museum’s activities and Walt gave us an abbreviated version. One only has to step out the front door for sites of what happened in 1946 and 1960, the deadliest and third deadliest tsunamis in U.S. history. Walt has loaded images on a tablet and at each field trip spot can compare the view of today to what it was like in the immediate aftermath of a tsunami.

The most memorable stop was Laupahoehoe Point, about a 40-minute drive north of Hilo. In 1946, it was the site of a small fishing village and a school. The teachers lived in cabins in front of the school adjacent to the coast. Children were beginning to arrive on the morning of April 1, 1946, when a series of surges quickly overtook the school. There was no tsunami warning system at the time and the earthquake that caused the tsunami was in the Aleutians, too far away for anyone to feel.

When the seas finally subsided, 24 students and staff of the school had perished. All of the Hawaiian Islands suffered damage. Hawaii was the hardest hit with 96 deaths. The final toll in the Hawaiian Islands was 159, the highest domestic tsunami casualty number in U.S. history.

Standing where the school once stood brings meaning to those statistics. There is a stone memorial with the names of the victims. Interpretive signs include their photographs and pictures of the school grounds before and after. Laupahoehoe brings focus to our TSTAP efforts. In 1946, seismographs detected the earthquake within minutes of its occurrence. But there was no system to rapidly determine size and location, analyze if it posed a tsunami threat, or send messages to those staff and students at the school before waves arrived. And had a message been sent, would it have been understood?

We spent the rest of the week in meetings with Pacific Tsunami Warning Center personnel, and other agency representatives with response and research responsibilities. A tsunami tragedy at Laupahoehoe won’t be repeated as the school has been moved to high ground. But there are far more people living, working, and vacationing in harm’s way today than in 1946 and even with a timely warning, getting everyone to safe ground is a daunting task. The ghosts of Laupahoehoe are in my dreams and scream that we better figure out how to do so.

Note: See https://tsunami.org/qrcodes/laupahoehoe/ for more on what happened at Laupahoehoe.

Lori Dengler is an emeritus professor of geology at Cal Poly Humboldt, an expert in tsunami and earthquake hazards. Questions or comments about this column, or want a free copy of the preparedness magazine “Living on Shaky Ground”? Leave a message at 707-826-6019 or email Kamome@humboldt.edu.

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Hawaii

Hawaii County Surf Forecast for June 20, 2026 | Big Island Now

Published

6 hours ago

June 20, 2026

Press Room

Forecast for Big Island Windward and Southeast

Shores	Tonight		Saturday
	Surf		Surf
	PM	AM	AM	PM
North Facing	0-2	0-2	0-2	0-2
East Facing	1-3	1-3	1-3	1-3
South Facing	4-6	3-5	4-6	5-7

TONIGHT

Weather

Sunny until 6 PM, then partly cloudy.
Scattered showers.

Low Temperature

In the lower 70s.

Winds

Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph, becoming
northwest after midnight.

Tides
Hilo Bay	High 2.5 feet 07:08 PM HST.
Hilo Bay	Low 0.4 feet 02:15 AM HST.

SATURDAY

Weather

Mostly sunny. Scattered showers.

High Temperature

In the mid 80s.

Winds

Northeast winds 5 to 10 mph.

Tides
Hilo Bay	High 1.2 feet 07:52 AM HST.
Hilo Bay	Low 0.6 feet 12:59 PM HST.

Sunrise

5:42 AM HST.

Sunset

7:02 PM HST.

Forecast for Big Island Leeward

Shores	Tonight		Saturday
	Surf		Surf
	PM	AM	AM	PM
West Facing	2-4	2-4	2-4	2-4
South Facing	4-6	3-5	3-5	4-6

TONIGHT

Weather

Mostly sunny until 6 PM, then mostly
clear. Isolated showers.

Low Temperature

In the upper 60s.

Winds

Northwest winds around 5 mph, becoming
southeast in the evening, then becoming
light and variable after midnight.

Tides
Kona	High 2.0 feet 07:46 PM HST.
Kona	Low 0.2 feet 02:52 AM HST.
Kawaihae	High 2.2 feet 07:52 PM HST.
Kawaihae	Low 0.0 feet 03:11 AM HST.

SATURDAY

Weather

Sunny. Isolated showers.

High Temperature

In the upper 80s.

Winds

West winds around 5 mph.

Tides
Kona	High 1.0 feet 08:30 AM HST.
Kona	Low 0.4 feet 01:36 PM HST.
Kawaihae	High 1.1 feet 09:29 AM HST.
Kawaihae	Low 0.6 feet 02:03 PM HST.

Sunrise

5:46 AM HST.

Sunset

7:06 PM HST.

A small, medium period south swell will continue to steadily fade into Saturday, allowing surf along south and west-facing shores to drop a notch. A series of small, medium to long period south and southeast swells will fill in Saturday into the first half of next week, which will boost surf heights back near seasonal averages.

Tiny surf will prevail along north-facing shores through most of the coming week as only some limited short-period energy reaches the islands from the north. Trade winds remain lighter than normal through the weekend, keeping surf along east-facing shores below average. East shore surf will begin to trend up early next week as trade winds increase upstream and across the region.

NORTH EAST

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

am pm

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Semi choppy with ESE winds 5-10mph in the morning increasing to 10-15mph in the afternoon.

NORTH WEST

am pm

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Clean in the morning with ESE winds less than 5mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting W 5-10mph.

WEST

am pm

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW AD

Conditions: Light sideshore texture in the morning with NNW winds 5-10mph. Bumpy/semi bumpy conditions for the afternoon with the winds shifting to the WNW.

SOUTH EAST

am pm

Surf: Minimal (ankle high or less) surf.

Conditions: Sideshore texture/chop with NE winds 10-15mph.

Data Courtesy of NOAA.gov and SwellInfo.com

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Hawaii

Principal honors Obama as ‘Child of Hawaii’ at library opening – AsAmNews

Published

16 hours ago

June 19, 2026

Press Room

Principal honors Obama as ‘Child of Hawaii’ at library opening – AsAmNews

The honor of introducing former President Barack Obama at the grand opening of his new presidential library in Chicago Thursday went to Dr. Kaiwipunikauikawēkiu Punihei Lipe of Hawaii.

Hawaii News Now reports that Lipe participated in the inaugural cohort of the Asia-Pacific Leaders Program in 2019 and is currently the principal at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama.

“Where I come from, to introduce someone means we have pilina, a connection. If this man walked into my home, my children would call him uncle because we are both keiki o ka ʻāina, children of Hawaii,” she said in her remarks.

She told those in attendance that the former president and herself are both “children of Hawaii.” Obama lived on the island and attended Punahou School and lived in Hawaii for eight years until his graduation from high school.

Lipe said being children of Hawaii carries with it a “sacred responsibility to care for those who we may never meet.”

She made reference to the resilient Hawaiian shrub, the Like a’ali’i.

“The a’ali’i thrives by being deeply rooted, resilient through storm and drought, and fiercely responsive. That is what ‘yes, we can’ means to my indigenous heart. It demands that we remain unshakably rooted in truth, resilient through trial, and so responsive that just as this plant yields its leaves for medicine, its blooms for beauty, and its timber for protection, we become the healing, the vibrance, and the shelter needed by our communities and by grandmother earth.”

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Hawaii

Hawaii economy remains resilient despite inflation – The Garden Island

Published

1 day ago

June 19, 2026

Press Room

Hawaii economy remains resilient despite inflation – The Garden Island

Hawaii’s economy should maintain mild growth this year, according to a new state forecast that notes recent spikes in inflation and personal income.

The Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism published its latest quarterly report assessing Hawaii’s economy on Monday, and slightly downgraded its growth forecast for 2026 to 1.6% compared with 1.7% growth it projected in a March report.

DBEDT did not change its outlook for the local economy over the next few years, and still expects growth of 1.8% in 2027 followed by 1.9% in 2028 and 2029.

In 2025, Hawaii’s economy grew by an estimated 2.5%, which DBEDT characterized as robust and driven by a broad base of industries and strong visitor spending. Last year’s growth topped the national average of 2.1%.

“Despite the impacts of severe weather and the ongoing Middle East conflict, Hawaii’s economy remains resilient based on year-to-date 2026 data,” the report said. “Growth is expected to moderate, however, with the impacts of higher inflation and slower job growth.”

James Tokioka, DBEDT’s director, added in a statement, “Hawaii’s economy showed stability and endurance in 2025. Looking ahead, DBEDT anticipates more moderate growth as inflation rises due to the impacts of the Iran conflict. However, our labor market remains steady and our economy will continue to benefit from ongoing construction activity, infrastructure investment and tourism spending.”

The measure of Hawaii’s economy is the value of all goods and services in the state adjusted for inflation, also known as real gross domestic product.

Inflation, which can be painful to the pocketbooks of consumers and businesses, can detract from such economic growth. DBEDT noted that inflation on Oahu estimated every other month by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics jumped from 2.4% in January to 3.7% in March and then to 5.1% in May.

DBEDT also said local energy prices spiked 28.8% in May compared to the same month last year.

The increases to energy prices, which are part of broader inflation, are due to surges in global oil prices stemming from the war in Iran that the United States and Israel began on Feb. 28 and may be nearing an end.

For all of 2026, DBEDT expects Oahu inflation will be 3.8%, and then drop to 2.8% in 2027 before settling a bit more at 2.6% in 2028 and 2.5% in 2029.

One healthy aspect to Hawaii’s economy as described by DBEDT is a steady labor market with low unemployment and private-sector job growth.

Hawaii’s unemployment rate without seasonal adjustments was 2.2% in the first quarter of 2026 compared with 2.4% in the same quarter a year earlier. Preliminary data for April put the rate at 2.5%, up from 2.2% in the same month last year, though DBEDT noted the most recent rate was tied for third-lowest among states.

The number of nonagricultural wage and salary jobs in Hawaii slipped 0.1%, or by 800, to 642,900 in the first quarter of 2026, reflecting losses mostly in the federal government and some state government positions, DBEDT’s report said. In April, Hawaii’s job count rose 0.3%, a gain of 2,000 jobs, compared with April 2025, according to the report.

Personal income in Hawaii has been on an upward tear, according to DBEDT’s report, but that appears to be based on preliminary federal data that one local economist said isn’t accurate.

DBEDT’s report said personal income statewide jumped 12.4%, or by $12.9 billion, in the fourth quarter of 2025 over the same quarter a year earlier based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis that attributes much of the surge to payment of a legal settlement compensating victims of the 2023 Maui wildfires.

None of the $4 billion settlement, except for about $112 million, has been paid to people who suffered losses, but BEA in April reported that Hawaii had the biggest gain in personal income among states at 41.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025 largely driven by a wildfire settlement payment.

Carl Bonham, director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, said during a Hawaii Council on Revenues meeting in May that the BEA data estimating Hawaii personal income growth was flawed.

“The (wildfire) settlement has actually started to show up in the (BEA) income data,” he said. “It shouldn’t be showing up in the income data.”

The $4 billion settlement is to be paid out in four roughly equal annual installments, and the first payment is expected in July or August.

DBEDT is likely to revise its figure for personal income growth in a future report. In the current report, the agency put Hawaii’s personal income growth rate for all of 2025 at 6.9%, up from 4.9% in its prior report released in March.

The agency projects that personal income this year will rise 4% followed by increases of 4.3% in 2027, 4.2% in 2028 and 4.2% in 2029.

Hawaii’s biggest economic driver, tourism, is doing well with moderate growth in visitor arrivals and strong visitor spending, according to DBEDT’s report.

During the first three months of this year, visitor arrivals rose 3.8% over the same period last year while visitor spending surged by 9% in the same comparable period.

DBEDT also said that for April there was a 0.5% dip in visitor arrivals but spending still rose 4.8% compared with the same month last year.

The agency projects that visitor arrivals for all of 2026 will rise 1.9% followed by 1.3% in 2027 and then 1% in 2028 and 2029. Visitor spending is projected by DBEDT to rise 4.3% for all of 2026 followed by 4.5% in 2027, 3% in 2028 and 2.9% in 2029.

Another major industry helping propel Hawaii’s economy, construction, had an uneven start to the year with a rise in jobs, government contract awards and spending on state projects mixed with a decline in authorizations for private building projects.

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