Sept 11, 1992

Sept 11, 1992 was Originally Posted on September 12, 2014 by

An anniversary of sorts in Hawaii. On Sept 11, 1992, Hurricane Iniki devastated parts of Hawaii with 145 mph winds. The island of Kauai took the brunt of the story. The Wikipedia page shows the hurricane track: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Iniki

The hurricane was south of the islands traveling west. Hawaii thought they dodged a bullet when at the very lastminute, the hurricane made a 90 degree turn to the north and headed directly across Kauai. I believe another couple hours and the outcome would have been lots better.

1.8 billion dollars of damage (some still being repaired today (Coco Palms Resort Hotel where Elvis filmed Blue Hawaii).

As I understand it, the storm had passed the Big Island and the weather was good. The airport at Kona (Keahole) had just been completed a few months earlier and there were many jets stuck there because of the hurricane. If the storm had hit a few months earlier, there could have been terrific loss of life. Here is why.

 As I mentioned, the storm was headed west and was almost past the islands when it took a 90 degree turn. Flights to Hawaii were already headed here with visitors coming in and headed out. It was expected that the storm would be past the islands. However, those flights have what is called a “point of no return” when they have traveled more than 1/2 way to their destination. Although they may have some extra fuel, if the Kona airport was not available and the other airports were shut down because of the change of hurricane direction, where would these planes land? Not here, in fact, there are few other places in the Pacific that can handle large planes, let along stack them up while others are fueling and what small island would have lots of spare fuel. Where would these planes end up?

 When you have a chance, go to Google Earth or a world map, locate the Hawaiian Islands and see what is near us. NOTHING! We are the most remote place on earth. Honolulu, Hawaii to Los Angeles, Ca. is 2559 miles. Tokyo to Los Angeles is 3,856 miles.We are quite south too, even in latitude with Mexico City!