• Kapaa gridlock a Civil Defense nightmare • Pineapple field days were good days Kapaa gridlock a Civil Defense nightmare! We all know how bad Kuhio Highway can be on any given day, but the biggest reveal came from the newly released Civil Defense/FEMA maps, which
• Kapaa gridlock a Civil Defense nightmare • Pineapple field days were good days
Kapaa gridlock a Civil Defense nightmare!
We all know how bad Kuhio Highway can be on any given day, but the biggest reveal came from the newly released Civil Defense/FEMA maps, which show all of the Eastside corridor — from the Wailua Bridge north — in the highest level of flood zone.
Not just the makai side but now mauka too, going inland quite a distance. So imagine when the tsunami sirens blow and all the folks have to seek higher ground. With gridlock will come fatalities. Ask the Civil Defense, first responders and the police what might happen during an evacuation. Their answers may surprise you. And all the folks living north of Kapaa, they are also affected by this one-way-in, one-way-out corridor. Nobody wants to think of the horrible consequences of this daily gridlock. It’s not just inconvenient but downright dangerous.
Call on our legislators, the mayor and the Planning Commission to work with the DOT, Civil Defense and those tasked with public safety and look at the new FEMA maps, which reveal the true extent of the tsunami evacuation zone. It’s much larger than those maps in the phone book. For safety’s sake, I urge the Kauai community to see traffic gridlock as more than just an inconvenience but as a possible death trap!
Deborah Nantais, Kapaa
Pineapple field days were good days
I miss the pineapple field days. When I was a keiki, I remember driving to school past the big, yellow trucks in the pineapple fields. Now our keiki are driving past “ag lots” on their way to school. It would be nice if we could find a way to keep our childhood memories tied to open space. New “ag lots” should be utilized to produce locally grown food on a large systematic scale.
I wonder how the pineapple workers have been treated from when they planted their first pineapple to now? I hope someone finds a funding mechanism for their pensions. The sale of plantation lands should be tied to labor pensions, because they were the individuals who did the backbreaking work.
I miss the pineapple field days. Now I understand why my ohana has pineapple field paintings in my house. Kuiaha ahupua’a appreciates your hard work!
Alexander Haller, Haiku
