Hurricane Iselle en route to Hawaii

[Sworbeyegib]

I'm not sure if there is any coverage of this on the mainland, but we've been on alert for a one-two punch of bad weather this week.

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-n ... w/31586142

Hurricane Iselle, followed closely by tropical storm Julio are supposed to hit Hawaii Thursday morning, or as early as Wednesday night.

Iselle was downgraded from a category 4, to a category 3. And the hope is it will be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hits, but nothing is for certain. My step mother is a former weather reporter and says most storms coming from the east like this have a better chance of letting up before it reaches the island, but we aren't taking any chances.

As my apartment buildings manager, I posted up notices in both elevators and the lobby, 8 pages worth of the Hawaii Civil Defense preparedness basics. Informing people to secure all items on their lanais, pull down their storm shutters, and all the basics they should have on hand (food, water, full tank of gas, flashlights, fully charged devices etc...).

I also did a re check of all of our buildings fire escapes, to make sure they were completely clear of any obstructions. I also went

My personal preps are pretty much in order, but I did fill whatever extra containers I had with water. I have plenty of stored bottled water, but one of the bigger concerns is sanitation... being able to flush the toilets in the event the power goes out and the water pumps stop working. I have a couple 5 gallon buckets, a few milk jugs and some other random containers set aside specifically for that.

I am lucky in the sense that I work out of my apartment building, so I have no need to leaving or commuting in this weather.

I'll keep everyone posted, especially if things get hairy.

[Sworbeyegib]

Well, the skies are grey, and the winds are just starting to touch the outer edges of the Big Island.

I am well set up here at my apartment. I did a quick check to see what I have on hand, and I'm pretty happy that I didn't need to go out and panic shop like the rest of the island.

I did an "inventory", and was pleasantly surprised.

For water, I have...
-5 gallons of unopened bottled water.
-6 gallons of filled jugs and smaller containers.
-A gallon of water in small 20 oz bottles that I shoved into every crevice of my freezer, so in case I lose power, it will help keep everything as cold as possible.
-two 5 gallon, unused buckets filled almost to the top and covered. About 9 gallons worth.
-And of course, my bath tub.

I also have a couple of cases of the diet green tea I buy, and about 7 or 8 random powerade and gatorades (1 qt bottles).

Food wise, I'm well enough covered too.

-About 40 or so cans of "meals". About half of which is pork and beans... the rest is a mix of some chef Boyardee, chili, dinty moore, and some random soups mixed in as well.

-For canned meats, I have 11 cans of spam, an 18 pack of Vienna sausage, 3 cans of corned beef, 10 cans of tuna in oil, and a few cans of sardines.

-For other random canned goods, I have a few each of kidney beans, refried beans, green beans and a lonely can of spinach. I have about 6 cans each of creamed corn and stewed tomatoes too.

-I have about 24 packs of ramen noodles and a full bag of rice.

-I also have 2 cases (24) of MREs chilling in the corner of my closet.

I did however go to the store to stock up on some luxury items... Namely smokes, beer, whisky and energy drinks. Stuff I don't "need", but will make me happy if I'm stuck in my apartment all weekend.

The minimum amount recommended to have on hand is a week, as that is the time frame FEMA and the Red Cross give to order to get supplies out here. I'd say I have easily a months worth on hand.

Luckily, our building has metal roll down storm shutters on our lanais, and only a single small window located in each corner unit. Time to wait this sucker out.

[Anianna]

I was too young when I lived in Hawaii to remember it, but there is a show called Buying Hawaii and several of the homes on that show have a lot of open elements with many having only outdoor restrooms. Is that pretty typical? I can't imagine weathering this kind of storm in the sorts of homes they feature on that show.

[Zimmy]

Be careful over there.

How's Grandma? Is she set up good?

[Sworbeyegib]

Be careful over there.

How's Grandma? Is she set up good?

Grandma is probably set up better than I am. She's got a generator to keep her both her fridges and her deep freeze running, and tons of food and water. She also has security grates on all her windows. Only thing she's worried about are her cars, she has three cars, and only a two car garage. She has to decide which one is going to be parked in the driveway out in the weather.

She's seems more concerned with her plants and garden than anything else.

[Sworbeyegib]

I was too young when I lived in Hawaii to remember it, but there is a show called Buying Hawaii and several of the homes on that show have a lot of open elements with many having only outdoor restrooms. Is that pretty typical? I can't imagine weathering this kind of storm in the sorts of homes they feature on that show.

Not typical at all that I've seen on Oahu, everything here is more or less what you would find on the mainland. Even the "countryside" is more or less modernized. However, I would say open carports are slightly more common here than closed garages. You'll see closed garaged mostly in the suburbs, and carports everywhere else.

On some of the outer islands though, maybe. The outer islands are almost all rural areas and homes. I know a few people that live or have lived in a communes, and I know a few more that are more or less "off the grid".

[Kinzei]

Sounds like you are well prepared. Good luck and hang in there. Keeps us posted when you can.

[NamelessStain]

I'm not sure if there is any coverage of this on the mainland, but we've been on alert for a one-two punch of bad weather this week.

As I said in the PM to you, stay safe and let us know you are ok when it's all done.

[Mikeyboy]

I also heard on top of all this you had a 4.5 earthquake on the big island yesterday. Stay safe.

http://www.weather.com/news/hawaii-eart ... e-20140807

[Boondock]

For canned meats, I have 11 cans of spam ...

Only 11 cans of Spam? Dude, you're gonna starve!

But seriously, stay safe, good luck, try to keep us updated.

[KGBrick]

For canned meats, I have 11 cans of spam ...

Only 11 cans of Spam? Dude, you're gonna starve!

But seriously, stay safe, good luck, try to keep us updated.

Almost impossible to starve with 11 cans of spam on the shelf: you'll eat anything before resorting to opening one of them.

[NamelessStain]

For canned meats, I have 11 cans of spam ...

Only 11 cans of Spam? Dude, you're gonna starve!

But seriously, stay safe, good luck, try to keep us updated.

Almost impossible to starve with 11 cans of spam on the shelf: you'll eat anything before resorting to opening one of them.

Spam is Hawaii's official state meat. Or didn't you know that?

[VLDragon]

For canned meats, I have 11 cans of spam ...

Only 11 cans of Spam? Dude, you're gonna starve!

But seriously, stay safe, good luck, try to keep us updated.

Almost impossible to starve with 11 cans of spam on the shelf: you'll eat anything before resorting to opening one of them.

Spam is Hawaii's official state meat. Or didn't you know that?

You can even get spam and eggs at McDonalds...

Status Update:
Iselle slowed before it got to the Big Island and is now a tropical storm. The brunt of it is expected to hit Oahu at 9am (about 1 hour from now).

There have been some reports of thefts including someone stealing the main Red Cross truck for the Big Island. ( http://www.kitv.com/weather/hurricanes/ ... 14#!by8rPc )

[Boondock]

You can even get spam and eggs at McDonalds...

Oh, yes. And it is delicious.

[Sworbeyegib]

So far we've only had some moderate rain and winds on Oahu. Thankfully it was downgraded to tropical storm status just before it hit Big Island. Unfortunately, there are 21,000 people over there without power right now.

More updates as it comes.

[Sworbeyegib]

For canned meats, I have 11 cans of spam ...

Only 11 cans of Spam? Dude, you're gonna starve!

But seriously, stay safe, good luck, try to keep us updated.

Almost impossible to starve with 11 cans of spam on the shelf: you'll eat anything before resorting to opening one of them.

Haha, I'm a total spam snob. I have my preferred kinds of spam for different things.

Spam lite however... is horrible stuff.

[KGBrick]

For canned meats, I have 11 cans of spam ...

Only 11 cans of Spam? Dude, you're gonna starve!

But seriously, stay safe, good luck, try to keep us updated.

Almost impossible to starve with 11 cans of spam on the shelf: you'll eat anything before resorting to opening one of them.

Spam is Hawaii's official state meat. Or didn't you know that?

And have you ever heard of a hunger problem in Hawaii?

Here's hoping the weather doesn't get too exciting out there. I understand you're in for a lot of rain. I'll take hurricane-force winds over flooding almost any day.

[Sworbeyegib]

Looks like the Big Island is going to be taking the brunt of both storms. If they follow the path they are currently taking, Iselle should dip south of my island, and Julio should pass just north of it.

Right now, the rain has been light to moderate, mostly off and on. It has actually been dry about the last 2 hours. Winds aren't crazy, but we are getting some random large gusts every few minutes.

Nothing out of the usual for the building I manage. The biggest problem is that garbage collection service has been cancelled today, and will resume tomorrow, so I posted notices on every trash chute asking people to limit their trash. A couple of broken bottles on our upper parking deck, but that's nothing out of the ordinary when it is windy.

[Sworbeyegib]

Unfortunately, the state suffered at least one loss of life over the weekend, though this cannot be blamed directly on the hurricane. The worse part is that it was a completely preventable and unnecessary death.

A 19 year old women was swept away by a river while on a hiking trail on Kauai on Friday, and her body was found on Saturday.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/2624 ... auai-hiker

Horrible tragedy. But it was ridiculously irresponsible for her and her hiking partner to be out on a notoriously tough trail while the hurricane warnings were in effect.

Hiking and exploring has been increasingly popular with younger college age students here the last few years. Unfortunately, many do not have enough experience or common sense to do hikes as grueling as we have here on island. Many also venture off into closed or unsanctioned trails. We have an increasing amount of emergency rescues, and sometimes deaths because of it.

[Sworbeyegib]

Oahu was relatively unscathed after the hurricanes veered away from the main islands, however the Big Island had the most damage done, and up to 25,000 people were out of power. Here are some pictures.

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/slideshow? ... wimageid=1


[imghttp://khnl.images.worldnow.com/images/4438071_G.jpg][/img]]




The biggest danger were the large trees and branches that were blown into the roads. Thankfully, many members of the community were out there with chainsaws and trucks to help clear the roads as soon as they could.

[NamelessStain]

Glad to hear you made it safely through it.

[Boondock]

Yup. Glad everything's OK.

[Valarius]

Eh. Full disclosure: I used to live there. Power is still being restored in the upper area of Puna. I figured they were downplaying the damage.

http://www.kitv.com/news/hawaii-electri ... r/27531392