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Hurricane Civil defense officials took Tropical Storm Daniel so seriously that the first wave of federal disaster forces arrived Sunday and thousands of emergency-response workers were one call away from activation.
cliffhanger hands
Hawaii a good lesson
'Jaws dropped' when it veered
off, but the islands' agencies and
businesses learned a good deal
By Mary Adamski and Gary T. Kubota
Star-Bulletin"Everyone was waiting for a hurricane upgrade," state Civil Defense spokeswoman Barbara Hendrie said yesterday just after the National Weather Service canceled the storm warning for Honolulu and Maui counties.
Earlier yesterday, Daniel had intensified to near-hurricane speed, but that power burst caused it to veer north of its previous track and away from the islands, according to weather forecasters. "Jaws dropped. That was good news, but it was a total surprise," Hendrie said.
"Folks from the Small Business Administration came in last night and we had been talking to Federal Emergency Management Agency. We were looking at getting paperwork drawn up for the declaration" of emergency.
"Thousands are on standby, all lined up and ready to be put into place for the mop-up," said Hendrie.
State Civil Defense staff remained on duty last night making sure the news was relayed to all volunteers, she said.
Jim Weyman, director of the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, said: "It might briefly have become a hurricane." Data from radar and hurricane-tracking planes showed that Daniel formed an eye earlier yesterday.
But the eye dissipated rapidly and the storm weakened. "We were very lucky this time," Weyman said.
At 5 p.m., Daniel was about 225 miles east-northeast of Honolulu and about 150 miles northeast of Kahului. It was moving west-northwest at about 12 mph.
"It's going to stay far enough away where we're not going to anticipate any effects," said forecaster Kevin Komada. "We're going to be on the extreme outer fringe and we're not looking for winds to be that strong."
Oahu Civil Defense Agency operations officer Paul Takamiya said, "Overall, Daniel served a purpose. If nothing more, this was an excellent exercise. It brought together all the agencies that respond, to revisit all the issues we have to address.
"It was a chance to dust off our procedures. Agencies had to address their responsibilities; some agencies are having meetings about things that need to be improved.," he said.
Some of the decisions hanging on the 4:30 p.m. weather update were "which shelter to open, when to open them, whether to have trash pickup, to close schools or not," Takamiya said.
It wasn't only government agencies that monitored the situation -- private sector organizations such as hospitals, utility companies and the American Red Cross had people on standby throughout the weekend.
"As the storm got closer, it looked like it would cause problems," Takamiya said "Until 11 a.m. (yesterday) it was still looking grim. We were looking at a worst-case situation."
"In a sense, it is not over," he said. "The high surf action is not over, and we will still have some rain from this until it is completely out of area."
Jocelyn Collado of the Hawaii chapter of American Red Cross said 125 volunteers statewide were activated, some on duty on the Big Island and Maui.
"We had 1,500 volunteers on standby since Sunday to man shelters if needed," she said.
"This gave us a good practice for the next hurricane," said Collado. "We were glad to see people take precautions.
"We all learned lessons from Iniki," she said.
The last hurricane to hit Hawaii, in 1992, Hurricane Iniki was responsible for seven deaths and $2 billion damage, primarily on Kauai.
Hendrie said Maui officials did the "prudent" thing yesterday, closing schools and telling hundreds of government employees not to go to work.
Maui Mayor James "Kimo" Apana said he made the correct decision in granting leave to nonemergency county workers. He said at the time he made the decision, the storm was expected to hit at noon, leaving county workers separated from their children. "It was touch and go."
Apana said Maui Civil Defense Agency officials were prepared to deal with Daniel and he wouldn't do anything differently the next time.
Eight public schools were closed and several buildings were designated civil defense shelters. Maui authorities said there were no reports of storm damage.
In the aftermath, Maui County pushed back trash pickup by one day this week. The normal schedule is expected to resume next week.
The state Civil Defense siren system would routinely have been tested today, first business day of the month. The test has been canceled, Hendrie said. "The timing is not good."
Central Pacific Hurricane Center
UH Storm tracker