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Most Of Oahu’s helters Are A
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I
n a direct hurricane strike, man of the sstems vital to protecting residents and aiding Oahu’s recover would e pushed to the rink.
In uran Honolulu, all the large electrical, oil, water and wastewater facilities — as well as the port — are vulnerale to extreme ooding, according to a 2014 stud co-authored Karl Kim, a Universit of Hawaii professor and chair of the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center. Half of Honolulu’s re stations, hospitals and highwa ridges would e susceptile to that ooding, too, the stud found. And onl Oahu has 127 emergenc shelter locations — most of them pulic school uildings. Together, the provide enough space for aout 20 percent of the island to take cover in a major storm. In a natural disaster, hospitals could see six times as man patients as normal. Hospitals can adjust shifting medical workers around, as well as using hallwas and emergenc tents for over ow. Cor Lum/Civil eat
The state is assessing the conditions of shelters and retro tting some, ut
the work is expensive and slow.
Y MARCL HONORA 2009 U.. Arm Corps of ngineers surve found, however, that aout 35
percent of the state’s residents would seek emergenc shelter outside their homes, even as a last resort.
“There’s de nitel a de cit in hurricane-shelter evacuation space,” sas Jennifer Walter, preparedness ranch chief for the Hawaii mergenc Management Agenc. Further, it’s not clear how those shelters would actuall fare in hurricane-force winds. Oahu’s shelters include 454 individual uildings, state documents show. Two dozen of them have een retro tted to withstand at most a Categor 1 hurricane. One uilding could withstand a Categor 3 storm. The remaining uildings are elieved to e ale to withstand a tropical storm, at worst.
It’s not clear how the’d do ecause the counties originall designated those uildings to e shelters using “visual assessments” and little more, according to a state report. Now, Walter and her colleagues are working to assess just how durale all of the designated shelters are. ut the work, the sa, is expensive and slow. In 2006, after Hurricane Katrina attered the Gulf Coast, Hawaii state o cials launched a new program to have structural engineers inspect whether the islands’ shelters met the latest, minimum hurricane guidelines. Francis Gagnon and Jessica Michaud were earl residents at a McKinle High chool shelter during the Hurricane Lane threat. Few Oahu’s shelters have een retro tted to withstand hurricanes. Natana Friedheim/Civil eat
The wanted to gauge whether the uildings would actuall withstand such a storm.
helters Are till afest Option For Man
ince then, the state has spent aout $13 million graduall assessing and retro tting emergenc shelters, state documents show. Inspectors have assessed aout 177 uildings out of nearl 700 statewide, according to Walter. ach assessment costs from $10,000 to $15,000, state o cials sa. At the current rate, it would take 305 ears to assess and retro t all the shelters needed statewide — assuming Hawaii’s population stas the same, HI-MA Critical stems Planner David Lopez calculates. Man of Hawaii’s re stations and other emergenc services are located in areas vulnerale to severe ooding. Cor Lum/Civil eatThat’s in contrast to Florida, which was hit Hurricane Andrew in 1992 (the same ear Hurricane Iniki struck Kauai) and, notal, has su ered several more direct hits in the ears since. Florida’s emergenc assessments onl cost aout $1,125 each ecause the surves don’t require licensed engineers, emergenc o cials there sa. ince 1999, that southeastern state has spent $40 million retro tting some 1,150 shelter uildings — almost all of them at pulic schools and on college campuses, its emergenc division reports.
Hawaii, meanwhile, reports having retro tted 50 shelter uildings. Florida’s push has left its evacuees with more near shelter options, and, according to the state’s emergenc division, almost no shortage of shelter space. Walter said Hawaii uilding experts and pulic o cials might soon revisit “what makes the most sense” locall — and whether the state might loosen its restrictions somewhat to allow more inspections similar to Florida. Hawaii’s shelters face other shortfalls, too. The have no emergenc supplies and lack su cient sta ng, o cials sa.
Walter stresses that despite all those issues the shelters are still the safer option for residents who live in areas prone to ooding, near steep ridge lines or in older homes with single-wall construction.
Hawaii’s hospitals, meanwhile, can operate normall for three to four das after a disaster pooling their resources together. An longer and the’ll likel have to ration medical supplies and limit care, sas Chris Cratree, the Hawaii Healthcare mergenc Management director. The hospitals keep aout a week’s suppl of medicine and several das of ackup power generation. On a normal da, Hawaii hospital eds are 85 percent to 90 percent full. The state is alread dealing with a shortage of 751 phsicians, including 384 on Oahu. In a Categor 3 hurricane, emergenc o cials estimate hospitals could see six times as man patients seeking treatment, Lopez sas. The demand is compounded the fact that Oahu onl has 18 full-time amulances. Nonetheless, the state’s hospital network could adjust to work through the added load, Cratree sas. In a disaster it can shu e doctors and nurses to where the’re most needed — assuming the roads and vehicles to get them there are availale. Hospitals can make space using hallwas, empt uildings and emergenc tents. Patients who don’t asolutel need to e in eds can e discharged ahead of a storm. ign up for our FR morning newsletter and face each da more informed.
If things get ad enough, Hawaii hospitals can draw help from the Federal mergnec Management Agenc’s pre-staged disaster medical assistance teams. And if things get reall ad, patients can e own to the mainland to make room in Hawaii. “There are a lot of things we can do. We are in a good wa,” Cratree sas. “I’m never going to sa we’re 100 percent” — there’s alwas more to learn, or Oahu onl has 18 full-time amulances. Cor Lum/Civil eat
unforeseen circumstances.
Here’s a HI-MA report on the status of the state’s hurricane shelters:
To print the document, click the "Original Document" link to open the original PDF. At this time it is not possible to print the document with annotations.
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