SUNDAY MORNING UPDATE: Something doesn't seem right about the Central Pacific Hurricane Center's information pages on Hurricane Flossie. Bulletin #16, the latest as of this writing, says: FLOSSIE IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST NEAR 12 MPH AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DURING THE NEXT 24 HOURS. Yet the map on the Center's Flossie page shows a predicted path that is clearly well north of due west, suggesting a much closer pass by the state than would a path "toward the west." Might we expect more precision than this when a "dangerous" hurricane approaches Hawaii?
Maybe this category 4 hurricane won’t strike the islands after all, but in the words of a State Civil Defense spokesman, “So what?” Here’s his entire quote from the Honolulu Star-Bulletin story:
"If this thing fizzles out, so what? Everybody should still be prepared."
There’s nothing like an off-the-cuff remark by a State Civil Defense official to impart confidence among the citizenry, is there?
In the absence of any substantive advice from State Civil Defense in this story, here’s CHORE’s recommendations regarding emergency communications:
Go out and buy batteries for your portable radio. Don’t own one? Buy a battery-powered radio today – along with extra batteries. If the winds pick up dramatically and/or the power fails, immediately turn on your radio and listen for situation updates.
(Perhaps after seeing how meager his earlier remarks seemed in print, this same official expanded his comments, as reported in Sunday's Star-Bulletin near the bottom of the story.)
Documenting the Performance
If a radio station goes off the air, make a note of the time and date for your future complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, then tune to another station. Keep doing that until you find a station that stays on the air and gives frequent “live” updates.
If a station cuts to pre-recorded programming in the middle of a power blackout or storm incident, make a note of that, too – also for that future complaint to the FCC. (We really can’t accept the premier emergency broadcast station going to a canned show again as it did on October 15th, can we?)
Also note when you first hear statements by an official spokesman for the civil defense agencies and the electric company on the radio. It’s only natural to expect earlier statements and better performances from them than what we experienced on Earthquake Sunday last October. The notes you keep will help reconstruct the sequence of events so those performances can be evaluated. CHORE would like to know what you find, so add your comments to our most recent blog post when the time comes.
Remember, this site is all about Citizens Helping Officials Respond to Emergencies. You can do that by paying close attention to how they do with Flossie or whenever the next emergency occurs.
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