LIHU’E – While weather experts predict the risk of a hurricane striking the Hawaiian Islands this year is minimal, Kauaians and others who have lived through one or two of the monster storms know better than to leave some things
LIHU’E – While weather experts predict the risk of a hurricane striking the Hawaiian Islands this year is minimal, Kauaians and others who have lived through one or two of the monster storms know better than to leave some things to chance.
Still, just a sparse crowd turned out recently when leaders at The Home Depot sponsored a free hurricane-preparedness seminar.
For the second consecutive year, experts at The Home Depot staged an exhibit outside their storefront during the first few days of hurricane season in Hawai’i (June through November) to help residents prepare for the next hurricane that rolls through Hawai’i.
Residents were encouraged to stock up on batteries, generators, water and supplies. A hurricane-preparation guide developed by The Home Depot leaders also was distributed.
“The main idea is to get them prepared before it happens, not just start preparing as it is coming,” said Home Depot leader Dana Lewis. “The idea is to pass out brochures, give them the list of things they can have, like first-aid kits, flashlights. They can get this stuff anyplace. We aren’t here to market anything.”
Gregg H. Morishige, a retired Kaua’i Fire Department battalion chief and now a grant administrator for the county Civil Defense Agency, said weather forecasters may say the chance of a hurricane hitting the island this year is slim.
At the same time, he said, “it just takes one” to cripple the island again, as was the case in 1992, when Hurricane ‘Iniki raked the island and created more than $1 billion in damages.
“You never know. You never know,” Morishige said of the chances of another hurricane hitting the island this year.
The exhibit enabled The Home Depot store officials to “give back to the community,” said Lewis, supervisor of the store’s hardware section and an “infocus captain,” a position that makes him responsible for the safety of the store.
Throughout the year, leaders at The Home Depot store in Lihu’e and nearly 2,000 other The Home Depot stores throughout the nation have offered programs that help improve the quality of people’s lives and their communities, Lewis said.
At this time of the year, store leaders focus their attention on preparing folks for emergencies and helping to build homes for the less fortunate, Lewis said.
“Hurricane-preparation is the theme. House safety. Security is the theme, and it is about our children and families,” Lewis said.
Kapa’a residents Calvin and Diane Paleka and their four children were among only a handful of people to stop by the exhibit shortly after it opened.
Diane Paleka said she feels her family members are prepared for the next disaster. “We have batteries, water, blankets, and things to make sure our house is ready,” she said. “Coming here is a good way to make sure we have everything we need.”
Officials from the Kaua’i Fire Department, American Red Cross, Kaua’i Civil Defense Agency, American Medical Response and the Office of the Mayor manned tables and offered advice or information on how to prepare for a hurricane.
With the use of a fire extinguisher training pan that resulted in a small blaze being ignited, KFD officials showed residents how to select a proper fire extinguisher, and how to use it to put out a fire.
Fire extinguishers with a rating of ABC may be used for most house fires. Class A fires involve combustibles like wood, paper and cloth; Class B fires involve flammable liquids; and Class C fires are started by electrical problems.
Helping to coordinate the event were Jan Miyamoto, The Home Depot Kaua’i store human-resource manager; and Cheryl Kuriki, a front-end supervisor who also helped children build wooden boxes to hold compact discs, as gifts for Father’s Day, which is this Sunday, June 19.
