HONOLULU- Hawaii disaster planners continue to learn from the March 11 tsunami event the caused an estimated $30.6 million in damage, most of it at boat harbors on
Oahu,
Maui and the
Big Island.
“That all clear as we've learned just pertains to the shore side,” said vice director of State Civil Defense Ed Teixeira, “you know on land.”
Hours after officials in all four counties sounded the all clear tidal surges continued to batter harbors causing widespread damage. But instead of staying offshore in the safety of the open ocean some boat owners headed back to harbor believing the tsunami threat had passed.
“So a lot of our mariners began coming on in and got caught in a lot of swells,” said Teixeira. “People were placed at risk and so that's got to be the major lesson learned.”
Thursday afternoon a meeting was held at the Honolulu Community College Marine Education and Training Center off Sand Island Access Road to discuss possible solutions.
The current thinking is that during future tsunami warnings a general all clear will be replaced by several messages that target specific areas.
“We'll give an all clear by location, especially with the small boat harbors, we're gonna do those individually,” said Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation Administrator Ed Underwood.
OFFSHORE MOORING AREAS
Meanwhile the U.S. Coast Guard is working on permanent offshore mooring areas outside of Honolulu Harbor that would separate commercial and recreational vessels during a tsunami event.
During the tsunami warning in February of 2010 large ships and small boats were cluttered in the same general area causing an undue risk to navigation.
A map presented at Thursday’s meeting showed how in the future commercial vessels would head toward the Ewa side of Honolulu Harbor, while recreational boats would gather on the Diamond Head side. A one mile exclusion zone outside of the harbor entrance would separate the two types of vessels.
“This would be in your phone book just like the evacuation zones where people live,” explained U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Joanna Nunan. “You could look in there and you could find information about where is the evacuation zone curve.”
The Coast Guard is also examining the best way to issue timely information to mariners. During the most recent tsunami event many boaters were caught without VHF radios.
“So even though we think we're doing a good job on the VHF radio of telling people what the status is, folks don't have a VHF radio,” said Nunan. “That's part of what I want to find out, what radio stations are people listening to?”
PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY
While disaster planners hope to improve communication during the next tsunami, Underwood stressed the need for boaters to take personal responsibility.
“Ultimately what it boils down to is the boater is responsible for their boats,” he said. “They have to make the call whether it's feasible to go out to sea or whether they're going to leave the boat in the harbor and take their chances.”
LOW INTEREST LOANS
To date the federal Small Business Administration has issued just over $225,000 in low interest loans to those who lost property or suffered economic hardship as a result of the March 11 tsunami.
The loans, with an average APR of three percent over thirty years, are available to those who had no insurance or found themselves under insured.
The SBA has setup a location in Honolulu to help process applications. The office is located at the Civil Air Patrol Headquarters at 419 Lele Street off Lagoon Drive. Hours of operation are from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. The center will be open until May 4.
Anyone impacted by the tsunami can also apply online at http://www.sba.gov/ or by calling toll free 1-800-659-2955.
The deadline for those who lost property is May 31. Those who suffered economic hardship have until December 29 to apply.
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