How are our Hawaiian members faring?

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PV1

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Apr 27, 2012
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To our members in Hawaii, are you buckled in for the storms? Looking on the radar, the first storm looks like it's about to hit, and I heard about an earthquake earlier today. Hope you guys are doing okay and are braced for the storms.

Stay safe.
 
Thanks for your kind thoughts, PV1!

I'm doing fine … but that might be due to my being in Sweden rather than Hawaii right now :) I have been watching special news coverage provided by the largest Hawaii TV station group via the Internet. It looks like the first of two hurricanes, marginally Category 1 Iselle, has veered a bit south from its earlier predicted track. This should reduce its impact on the most populated area, Honolulu, where my i-MiEV is parked on jack stands under a car cover inside our condo complex's parking garage where it should be well-protected from wind, rain, blowing debris, etc. Before we departed in April, we moved all of our lanai furniture inside, so if the winds aren't strong enough from the east to blow heavy items into our lanai sliding glass doors, our apartment should be fine.

I'm more concerned about the second hurricane, Julio, that has become much stronger (Category 3). Its predicted trajectory takes it north of the Hawaiian islands, but if it should veer slightly south, it could pose a greater threat to Honolulu. We'll have to wait a couple of days to see how Julio behaves.

Fortunately, ocean temperatures around Hawaii are generally too cool to provide enough heat energy for hurricanes to strengthen into really dangerous storms. The exception to this is the warmer water south of the island chain. However, hurricanes usually approach Hawaii from the east where they weaken over cool water prior to reaching Hawaii. Nevertheless, two strong hurricanes in the early '80's and '90's approached from the southeast, one of which slammed Kauai causing extensive damage.

Overall, I'm cautiously optimistic that our apartment and i-MiEV will weather these storms unscathed.
 
Just called my sister in Hilo. They said it was scary and the rain soaked wind ripped right through their closed windows. They've been without electricity since yesterday but are in good spirits. We get hit with a much weaker storm sometime today. It windy and rainy on Oahu right now.
 
Looking online, it seems that Hilo was facing most of the brunt of the storm. Hopefully everyone pulls through safely. There's about a 1,000 mile break before Julio arrives.

Alohart, if your i-MiEV's up on jackstands, it should be able to take 3 feet of water before it floods the battery. It should be alright. Don't you live in Honolulu? I don't think they will be impacted as much as the big island.
 
PV1 said:
Alohart, if your i-MiEV's up on jackstands, it should be able to take 3 feet of water before it floods the battery. It should be alright. Don't you live in Honolulu? I don't think they will be impacted as much as the big island.
Not only is it on jack stands, but it's on the second floor of the parking garage. The first floor is probably only 10' above sea level with a bay bordering the property, so a high storm surge could threaten the lower parking garage floor. But no storm surge occurred in Honolulu where I live half of each year, so I feel pretty secure for the future since hurricanes have been a rare occurrence.
 
Any updates now that the second storm has likely passed through? I haven't heard any more news from Hawaii, so I hope everybody's doing okay.
 
PV1 said:
Any updates now that the second storm has likely passed through? I haven't heard any more news from Hawaii, so I hope everybody's doing okay.
No news is good news. The second hurricane, Julio, passed north of the island chain. It had weakened to a weak Category 1 hurricane so had little effect on the weather.
 
Glad to hear. Cooler water makes a huge difference. Every once in a while western PA will get a decent rainfall from a hurricane that made landfall in the Gulf. I couldn't imagine being on an island if something like a category 3 hit, much less places like New York when Sandy hit or Louisiana with Katrina.
 
Fortunately, hurricanes rarely hit Hawaii. I think the eyes of only 2 hurricane-strength storms have crossed the islands since the 1950's. There have been a few tropical storm hits and close approaches over the years, but they don't usually cause wide-spread damage. So Hawaii is lucky to be where it is.

This forum might have a member or two who live on the Big Island, maybe in the Hilo area, if I recall. They were impacted most seriously by Iselle. If they still read this forum, maybe they'll report what they experienced.
 
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