[ OUR OPINION ]

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More money needed
to improve tsunami info

THE ISSUE Scientists are using computer modeling to produce more specific information about how tsunami waves behave.

AN inadvertent error resulted in tsunami evacuation maps of some Maui areas being omitted from the current telephone directory, but meager federal spending will be to blame for other such maps being out of date for up to 15 years. The disaster around the Indian Ocean and past tsunamis that hit Hawaii should trigger a speedier updating of the maps.

The maps show how far inland people will have to flee to assure their safety in the event of a large tsunami. Since the first evacuation maps were drawn in 1990, computer modeling has enabled scientists to better assess how tsunami waves will behave when they reach Hawaii's shores.

Some of the information included in the maps has been supported by what happened around the Indian Ocean. For example, people in Hawaii are advised to seek safety in steel or concrete buildings of at least six stories and to walk up to at least the third floor. Sure enough, such buildings survived the Indian Ocean tsunami.

State Civil Defense officials are working to produce more specific information about the extent of flooding to be expected during the level of tsunami "that is likely to happen in your lifetime," says Brian Yanagi, Civil Defense program manager for earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes.

Hawaii has been struck by several tsunamis, causing 84 deaths in 1868, 159 in 1946 and 61 in 1960. The most recent tsunami in Hawaii, in 1975, resulted in the deaths of two Big Island campers. Scientists have found evidence of a major tsunami occurring 120,000 years ago when a chunk of the Big Island collapsed into the ocean.

Yanagi told the Star-Bulletin's Jim Borg that his agency has begun redrawing the tsunami evacuation maps for the front of the Verizon white pages, but limited funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will prolong the task. With the $150,000 it receives yearly from NOAA, he expects the updated maps to be completed in 10 to 15 years.

Knowledge of the effects of the 1946 tsunami did not cause Hilo residents to abandon town. Instead, city officials turned the damaged area into a park, realizing that Hilo's funnel-shaped harbor amplified the tsunami effects.

In poor countries, people live on the coast to be near fishing or tourism jobs. In Hawaii, they live near the surf because they can afford to, and they also can pay for strong structures or walls to withstand storms or for insurance to pay for damage. Accurate, up-to-date information and tsunami warning systems are important to all.

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Make Wie a fixture
at Sony Opens

THE ISSUE Michelle Wie drew much attention playing against men again in the Sony Open.

MICHELLE Wie earned plenty of accolades in her second appearance in the Sony Open although coming up short of her goal of qualifying for weekend play. Golf analysts noted improvement in her game, and her enormous talent and popularity should assure her a spot in future Sony Opens.

The 15-year-old Punahou progeny was staggered by heavy winds at Waialae Country Club on Thursday. She needed an excellent score yesterday to make the cut for the weekend, but a debilitating triple-bogey early in the round put her beyond plausible reach of the cutoff score. Even then, ESPN extended coverage by an hour, the approximate time Wie had left in her round.

That is why Wie has become an important ingredient in the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau's campaign to brand Hawaii as the ultimate golf destination. Surveys show Hawaii following Europe and Florida as golf destinations, and HVCB's $200,000 "Aloha Swing" partnership with the Golf Channel is aimed at bringing more golfers to the islands.

Sony was criticized last year after granting Wie a sponsor's exemption allowing her to enter the Open. The grumbling disappeared this year as the PGA Tour golfers recognized that the length of her drives, her other abilities and her familiarity with the course make her competitive at Waialae.