Felicia To Test State, Broadcast Storm Readiness

Felicia is taking dead-eye aim at the Big Island.

We’re two or three days away from feeling the effects of Felicia, and we don’t yet know whether it will be a hurricane, a tropical storm or a depression when it blows through next week.

The trend is downward in wind speed as the storm moves toward Hawaii through cooler surface waters and into wind shears – a combination that can tear at the storm and reduce its power.

This is the first storm we can recall in decades that has approached Hawaii so directly straight from the east. Hurricanes Iwa and Iniki (1982 and 1992) were spawned in the Central Pacific region – hence their Hawaiian names – and came from the south.

Forecasting has improved greatly since those storm devastated Kauai and damaged Oahu, as well. We still recall the 1 am call on 9/11/92 from a newspaper reporter friend who had just learned Iniki was heading straight for Kauai, something not known when most of us went to bed.

What Else Has Improved?

We won’t know until after this storm arrives whether our communications professionals in civil defense and the broadcast industry also have upped their game. It was distressing during and after the Oahu’s island-wide power outage in December to hear the primary emergency broadcaster respond with an “entertainment-as-usual” manner. Our newspaper commentary suggested at least a partial fix to the problem – giving emergency broadcaster status to the professional team at Hawaii Public Radio.

We also hope State Civil Defense has improved its capability to communicate with citizens in a timely manner. This and more will be clear within 72 to 96 hours when Felicia arrives – hopefully as nothing more than a breezy and damp visitor.