January 1, 2009
Filed under: Opinion
Chris

What Did O’ahu Learn?

On October 15 2006 a 6.7 Earthquake rattled the Hawai’i’an Islands triggering island wide power outages. What did O’ahu learn from these power outages? Apparently very little, perhaps nothing. A harsh judgment? Consider this list of failure:

1) The City & County of Honolulu in spite of available technology has resisted using solar powered street lamps & traffic lights relying instead on a system dependent on a centralized power source, compounding the problem by not having this archaic system on its own independent power grid.

2) Major Retail Stores, Shopping Centers, Malls all in spite of inherent self interest continue to resist supplying their own power needs through a combination of solar panels and/or wind turbines and/or electrical generators.

3) A majority of bars, cafes, restaurants, etc continue to rely on one source for all their needs (electricity) even when common senses tells them that they should have one or more propane stoves and canisters stored in a safe place.

4) Many Waikiki Resort Hotels continue to resist advances that would enable them to generate their power needs through a combination or solar and/or wind technologies, not even having back-up electrical generators.

5) A majority of businesses & homes continue to ignore the need for rain catchment systems, not only unnecessarily increasing their water bill all year, but succumbing to the fear of having no water when the electric dependent water system is down compounded by

6) the fact that the Board of Water Supply does not insist upon catchment systems, relies upon deep water wells requiring electrical pumps, and does little to fill those reservoirs during periods of heavy rainfall.

Perhaps it is all too easy to blame bureaucratic ignorance and stupidity, but what about the personal factor. How many citizens heed the warning to always have on hand a seven to ten day supply of food as well as flashlights, lanterns, and propane stoves with a minimum of three canisters stored in a safe place? How many citizens own a hand-cranked self generating flashlight and radio? How many citizens can simply relax when the power goes out, having all they need to wait out the ‘emergency’ for a few days, thus resisting the urge to spill into the streets or take to darkened roadways devoid of traffic lights and in far to many cases police officers at major intersection.

One thing staved off potential crisis & chaos and that is Aloha. The common sense of driver treating intersections darkened by bureaucratic bumbling as a four way stop, slowing down and even allowing pedestrians to cross. Aloha as in neighbors helping neighbors. Aloha discouraging looting and criminal acts. Aloha and the calm steady voices of Perry & Price in the dark doing their best to help their fellow citizens. But how long can O’ahu count on Aloha especially if a future incident blackens the island for days perhaps weeks. A scary yet real scenario when government & businesses ignore the lessons enumerated previously, falling back on the lame excuse that improvements are way to expensive, trusting that their losses will be covered by insurance, ignoring the very real fact that insurance is not an inexhaustible resource.