Ten_E

I went to the joint Senate/House hearings on disaster preparedness in Hawai`i this morning, and picked up a few interesting tidbits:

- The airports will shut down within twelve hours of hurricane force winds.
- The busses will change their marquee to read. You can flag one down anywhere on it's route, and get a free ride to the shelter.
- Private companies and tour busses will be used to transport emergency workers.
- The committee members, both Democrats and Republicans, were much more akamai than I was expecting - with one emabarrassing exception.
- I can't be a politician. A lifetime of sitting through hearings like this would kill me.

- We are in serious trouble if a major hurricane hits. It sounds like the evacuation plans, rescue operations, and emergency shelter plans are solid. There was almost no talk of food, water, medical supplies, waste removal, or radio communications. Maybe this was covered yesterday. If not, we will face the same situation as the Gulf Coast. I heard nothing about how we survive if we are cut off from the outside world for any length of time.

Some of the speakers were good. Some were full of bs & got called out. I was a bit miffed at the discussion of the Community Emergency Response Teams. The department was bragging about how 250 people have been trained as CERT first responders. I'm one of them. I got a good training in search and rescue & triaging. Then I was given a hard hat, a vest, and a backpack full of supplies. We are supposed to work in teams, but my team is spread out all over the island. If the hurricane hits, we are on our own.

I guess the plan is: in an emergency, put on the green hat & everyone will acknowledge me as an authority. That should be fun.

Speaking of ... we have our first live one of the season. Depression Ten_E is working it's way west, and gaining strength. It should reach 60 knot winds [Tropical Storm] in t+72 hours, and then maintain through t+120 hours. At that point it will at 145 degrees West, 15 degrees North. Big Island is at 155 W 20 N.

Of the last couple storms to pass 145W: two died out [Darby '98, Estelle '04], two stayed well to the south [Dora and Eugene in '99], and two had us under watch, but eventually missed [Jimena '03 and Daniel '00].

So the odds are still low, but I think all of our eyes are open.

Tracking links are on the right.