1982 Video Recalls Broadcast Failures During Hurricane Iwa -- a Lesson Yet To Be Learned?

With the 25th anniversary of Hurricane Iwa’s pass through the islands just three months away, it’s useful to recall the lessons we should have learned during one of Hawaii’s biggest emergencies in its 48 years of statehood. One lesson was the need to strengthen the communications network.

We’ve just had the treat of watching a compilation of Honolulu television stations' newscasts that were dominated by Hurricane Iwa coverage on November 23 and 24, 1982. (Honolulu resident AJ McWhorter transferred the newscasts from their old formats -- e.g., Beta tapes -- to DVD; his hobby has become a business, as described in this Honolulu Star-Bulletin story. AJ wants to find old KGMB-TV tapes, including newscasts from the Bob Sevey era and the Crossfire public affairs show that aired “live” on Sunday afternoons in the mid-70s; if you can help him, write to AJ at ajm@hawaii.rr.com.)

Remembering the 1982 Breakdown

Long-time Hawaii residents will recall the communications debacle after Iwa smashed into Kauai and gave Oahu a glancing blow. The category 1 storm knocked off 95% of Oahu’s electric grid, and only one radio station – the designated emergency broadcaster – remained on the air with its backup generator.

Don Rockwell, KITV’s news director then, and anchor Tim Tindall sat in their studio late that night and talked about the storm damage, painfully aware that only a small fraction of the market was able to see their newscast during the power emergency. Rockwell described his trip to the Windward Side and back, noting the eerie feel of the deserted streets, and then he spoke with concern about how fragile the emergency communications system seemed to be:

Rockwell: One of the interesting things to me was that at one point the only communication between officialdom and the public was one radio station, and that was KGU.

Tindall: We had discussed that, and I wanted to get your thinking on that. We have a Civil Defense system and a Civil Defense network that has been set up in conjunction with the broadcast community for many years here, and it works well as long as the radio and television stations are on the air.

Rockwell: And there was only one on the air at the time, and I really want to compliment and congratulate KGU for doing a terrific job and for having the generator capacity to keep everything on the air, including their transmitter. And one wonders why more stations, and one wonders why the television stations – and I know it’s a very expensive project to keep the transmitter and the office building on the air – but you gotta wonder what would happen if something happened to KGU. Let’s say some saboteur came along and blew it up and we didn’t have them either, what would we then do? So that’s something I think we ought to keep our eyes on and ask a few questions about in the succeeding weeks and months as this becomes history.

Asking 1982’s Questions Now

Wherever he is today, Don Rockwell might be amazed how little had changed in Hawaii's broadcast industry in the 24 years between Hurricane Iwa and Earthquake Sunday, October 15, 2006. More than a dozen radio stations on Oahu and three out of four TV stations were unable to broadcast to their regular listeners and viewers because they lacked backup power.

One of Hurricane Iwa’s big lessons had either never been learned or was forgotten: If a station claims to broadcast in the public interest, it must be prepared to do so in a power blackout.

What’s the status today? We’re looking forward to the September 27th meeting of the Comprehensive Communications Review Committee. The agenda for the meeting is no help in knowing what subjects will be covered, but CHORE believes it must include a detailed account of all Hawaii broadcast stations’ ability to remain on the air in a power emergency. If that’s something the stations cannot do, we have to question their commitment to the public interest and safety.

The CCRC needs to do the right thing and tell Hawaii citizens before the next emergency the status of our broadcast station lifeline. Tell us which stations have backup power and which don't. That at least will take the guesswork out of knowing where to turn for information in the next crisis.
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Click here to visit our sister blog for occasional posts on tsunami-related communication as events dictate. Tsunami Lessons was started one week after the December 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.