@Eric_Mueller Any fallout or repercussions from the resent volcano event?
Anyone know which is island Eric is on?
https://www.google.com/maps/@19.9746557,-156.0603339,326071m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m2!21m1!1s%2Fg%
Wayne,
Thanks for asking! We are on O’ahu, about 120 miles west of Kilauea , so we are in no physical danger. Depending on the winds, volcanic fog, or “vog,” can trigger allergic reactions ranging from irritating to debilitating. As a former submariner, there is no smell so pestilent I cannot bear it! CINCHOUSE gets a runny nose on the worst days. Our presence along the “Ring of Fire” does mean we are subject to occasional mild earthquakes. O’ahu itself has been dormant for millennia, if memory serves. Only Maui’s Hale’akala, which erupted a couple hundred years ago, and Hawai’i’s Mauna Loa are also still active.
Notably, the fire goddess Pele, who resides in Kilauea, is feared for her destructive temper and revered for her creative powers. She is linked to the creation myths, and her home, Kilauea, is our most active volcano. The legends state she visited each island in turn, thrusting her o’o (digging stick) into each until she found fire. The order of her visits coincides with the actual geological ages of the islands, which is pretty cool.
Pele, while most associated with Hawaii, has legends that span the islands. On O’ahu, her tussles with Kamapua’a (best described as a “were-pig”) gave rise to place names and local traditions. Koko Head, a dormant volcano, had a much different pre-missionary name relating to these legends, and Konahoanui, the peak that looms behind my town, also draws its name from those legends. The missionaries didn’t change it though! I will let the reader do their homework as to the source of missionary distaste!
Anyway, as of this writing, we are more concerned about a belt of rain that may deliver 30" of water. This can wash out beaches, cause brown water at our beaches, and overflow sewage plants. As in all things, these forces of destruction are balanced by the forces of creation, as the water will also begin its journey through our volcanic bedrock into our auqifer.
Thanks for your concern!
Eric
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The wind and rain was so bad, it drove us from our lanai!!! Normally, on the rains come from the north, making my lanai a refuge. Not so this last weekend!
Y.D. and Kid-zilla found alternative entertainment.
We were very lucky, having reinvested in solar with a battery backup, as our side of the island, with about a third of O’ahu’s population, lost power for at least a day. Other parts of the island were in the dark for two days! More tragically, there were multiple rescues of probably homeless people sheltering under culverts; I am sure some of this nameless population got swept to sea. On the North Shore, the surf town of Hale’iwa was within an hour of a mandatory evacuation due to a dam about to overflow. There were lost and damaged homes, but, thankfully, no loss of life.
Other islands fared about the same. Private dams, legacies of the plantation era, were under threat of giving out across the state. I am sure their indigent community was equally at threat.
I bring this up as it is a fact of life in the tropics 5,000 miles from help. The volcano is always there, destroying and creating. Folks that live near the volcano have accepted the risk as part of the life they chose. The weather, however, is something we all face, regardless of when Pele stuck her o’o into the bedrock and where she now resides. We all prepare, we all know the “big one” is coming, and we all try to not get complacent (long time residents, like CINCHOUSE, can be the worst!). This share threat, though, is also why we don’t have the looting and riots that you might see elsewhere. When the “big one” comes, we are all in it together!
In the meantime, Kid-zilla and I burnished the rails and celebrated our safe passage by bringing the Triple O to life this evening.
Mahalo i ke Akua (Thanks be to God)!
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Yeah, well if you and the boy both had beer after burnishing the rails mom’s gonna burnish your butt if she finds out!
@Eric_Mueller How are you doing I see on the weather channel flooding on the Hawaiian islands ? Hope you are doing ok.
Mark,
T hanks for asking. Beyond a road closures blocking a direct route over the mountains to Honolulu and soggy ground, it is a typical day in Kailua.
The nothing shore communities about an hour west of here by car got hammered. Damage estimates are $1 billion. They placed those communities under mandatory evacuation, so, to my knowledge, no lives were lost. Many, many lives were permanently upended…
Eric
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I suppose you meant northern.
So tragic.