There was an ironic twist this week on Kaua’i as Hawaiians nervously kept an eye on Hurricane Daniel. Pump motors for the water system supplying Kalaheo burned out Thursday, leaving residents without their customary wet stuff. As they lined up
There was an ironic twist this week on Kaua’i as Hawaiians nervously kept an eye on Hurricane Daniel.
Pump motors for the water system supplying Kalaheo burned out Thursday, leaving residents without their customary wet stuff. As they lined up to get water rations from tankers and dealt with other emergency conservation measures, the people remembered what it was like after Hurricane Iniki forced many residents to scrape for water and other essentials eight years ago.
This week’s water outage in Kalaheo may have come at a good time: Not because anyone wants to be without water, but because of its role as a reminder of what the next hurricane—if not Daniel, then one later on—can do to the lives and creature comforts of islanders.
Although government and emergency officials can advise the public to prepare for the worst, it’s up to individual residents to take the necessary precautions. If memories of Iniki don’t help in that regard, perhaps more recent events will.
