Hawaii's Apparent Immunity To Most Hurricanes
The islands of Hawaii, with Kauai as the notable exception, appear to be remarkably immune from direct hurricane hits. The USGS states that "more commonly, near-misses that generate large swell and moderately high winds causing varying degrees of damage are the hallmark of hurricanes passing close to the islands." This has also drawn media attention.
One notion is that Hawaii’s volcanic peaks slow down or divert storms. A partial source of this idea may be the long list of hurricanes in the above paragraphs that dissipated into tropical storms or depressions upon approaching the islands. Satellite images of hurricane Flossie's breakup when approaching Hawaii Island fueled this idea. Another example may be hurricane Felicia which dropped from Category 4 down to a tropical depression with residual winds predicted at only 35 miles per hour (56 km/h).
Wind data in particular supports the USGS assertion that hurricane damage has been low on all islands except for Kauai. Data collected by the Western Regional Climate Center show no hurricane-strength winds on any Hawaii Islands with the exception of Kauai. Despite this data, FEMA classified all of Hawaii as being in a "Wind-Borne Debris Region".
Normally, a standard homeowner's insurance policy with extended coverage cover hurricane damage. However, FEMA's designation forces residents who wish to obtain coverage to obtain a separate hurricane policy or endorsement. Residents with mortgages frequently have no choice but to obtain such a policy if their mortgage lender insists.
Read more about this topic: Hurricanes In Hawaii
Famous quotes containing the words hawaii, apparent and/or immunity:
“Things will not mourn you, people will.”
—Hawaiian saying no. 191, ‘lelo No’Eau, collected, translated, and annotated by Mary Kawena Pukui, Bishop Museum Press, Hawaii (1983)
“I am from time to time congratulating myself on my general want of success as a lecturer; apparent want of success, but is it not a real triumph? I do my work clean as I go along, and they will not be likely to want me anywhere again. So there is no danger of my repeating myself, and getting to a barrel of sermons, which you must upset, and begin again with.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Mistakes, scandals, and failures no longer signal catastrophe. The crucial thing is that they be made credible, and that the public be made aware of the efforts being expended in that direction. The “marketing” immunity of governments is similar to that of the major brands of washing powder.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)