Of the nearly 22,000 residents on the island at the time, almost all experienced some kind of damage to their property. Video of the waves and the torrential rainfall was actually taken along Kauai's Nawiliwili Bay during the run-up to Iniki's landfall. Kawakami said hes saddened by the 30-year plight of the Coco Palms, considering its illustrious past as one of Hawaiis premier resorts. (Photo copyright NOAA NWS). Thousands of roofs still have plastic tarps to keep out the rain, and sheets of plywood cover some windows. The Poipu Beach area on the south shore, blasted by Hurricane Iwa on Nov. 23, 1982, was ravaged even worse this time. LIHUE, KAUAI (HawaiiNewsNow) - Twenty years ago, Hurricane Iniki roared across our islands. Storm waves from Hurricane Iniki crashed into banks near hotels in Honolulu on the island of Oahu in Hawaii in 1992. But he had news for them. In 1992, Hurricane Iniki damaged or destroyed 41 percent of the island's homes. The destructive force of hurricanes in Hawaii was powerfully demonstrated on 11 September 1992 when Hurricane Iniki struck the island of Kauai with sustained winds of 130 mph and caused over $2.3 billion in property . All rights reserved. Hurricanes cause widespread and extensive damage from high winds, dangerous surf, and flooding. More than 100 people were injured. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. Yukimura was in office when the Category 4 storm hit the island on Sept. 11, 1992. Many Kauaians already are forced to hold more than one job because of the high cost of living. This time officials are insisting rebuilders include hurricane clips to hold down roofs, plus other precautions. Seven tents at Niumalu hold homeless Kauai families; the rest hold construction workers. John Waihee. The more ominous long-term worry is whether hurricane fears will keep tourists away. With climate change elevating storm concerns, it doesnt seem very wise to rebuild in the exact same spot, Kawakami said. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Here's a link to a photo of the path of the hurricane (scroll down to view image). Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Web Design : https://iccleveland.org/wp-content/themes/icc/images/empty/thumbnail.jpg. 2018 Islamic Center of Cleveland. But now this island without seasons is experiencing a spring. The storm caused more than $7 billion in damage when adjusted for inflation, according to a 2014 University of Hawaii study. The image was taken by a NOAA polar orbiting satellite ~500 mile above the Earth. Roads and utilities have been almost completely restored despite the snapping of more than 5,000 poles. 2. Free with trial. Landslides on the steep and spectacular Na Pali coast to the north may also take a long time to repair, he warned. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. The good news in the short run is that much of Kauai will be rebuilt in the next year. In 2015, Hawaii faced three Category 4 hurricanes at the same timeKilo, Ignacio, and Jimena. Rita Hayworth, Rita Moreno, and Elvis Presley all filmed movies at the resort. He said some people say they wish they had been there. She went straight to the historic county building in Lihue, with its emergency operations center in the basement, and helped secure last-minute public shelter arrangements. Collect, curate and comment on your files. Read the full story with our Print & Digital Subscription. Hawaiian landfalling hurricanes are historically pretty rare. Pretty terrifying.". Both skilled labor and construction supplies specially suited for the tropics must be imported, much of it from the Pacific Northwest. We previously stayed in what is now the Ko'a Kea, which was getting pretty run down.The Hyatt re-opened in 2003, and there was a video for years, that ran each hour in Stevenson's Library, showing the destruction the hurricane did to the hotel and Poipu, and the effort of the staff before and during the storm. On September 11, 1992, the small but intense system came out of the south in the central Pacific and traveled directly over the island. In actual dollar value, this would make Iniki the . Iniki caused $1.8 billion in damage. Even though the hurricane force winds were confined to the island of Kauai, all the other islands in the state experienced some damage from strong winds and heavy (4-6 foot) surf. Browse 3 hurricane_iniki stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. The storm caused over $1.8 billion in damages, 1,400 destroyed homes and resulted in six deaths. Hurricane Iniki was by far the strongest and most destructive. Ojas survived the storm by wedging a table into a corner and crawling under it with her child after the walls on her rental home blew away. A photo of a Kauai business building struck by Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Photo Credit-Wikimedia Commons-Public Domain. . 2023 University of Hawaii at Hilo, 200 W. Kwili St., Hilo, HI, 96720. Hurricane Iniki was the third most damaging hurricane in U.S. history, and the most destructive to hit the Hawaiian Islands in this century. You're reading a premium story. Free or royalty-free photos and images. The hotel was featured in Elvis Presleys 1961 film Blue Hawaii.. More than 2,000 houses were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable. Yukimura sayssome of theanemometers, or devices used to measure wind velocity,broke off at about 200 mph up in the mountains. Kapaas Kuhio Highway and Kauwila Street now. (Photo copyright NOAA NWS) For example, while he was waiting for Yukimura to return to Kauai just before the storm, he was busy doing the necessary work in anticipation of asking for state and federal hurricane assistance. Local officials reported that 12,000. It made us appreciate the facilities, services and amenities we had taken for granted running water and hot showers, for example. Storm surge from Hurricane Flossie in 2007 ran up Punaluu black sand beach. On Sept. 11, 1992, roaring 145-mile-per-hour winds gusting up to 225 miles per hour slammed the Garden Island. The damage was assessed at $1.8 billion. This GOES-17 taken at 3:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, July 23, 2020, shows Hurricane Douglas, right, churning in the Pacific Ocean heading towards Hawaii, left. Brennecke's manager Hoku Gordines says he remembers what he found when he got to the restaurant the morning after the storm hit. Accordingly, some complain she is too cautious in urging a return to tourism; others say the trip to Japan was premature when some islanders are still homeless. Iniki is the costliest natural disaster in Hawaiian history. Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Iwa's Formation: Iwa begun developing as a low pressure trough near the equator in early November 1982. LIHUE, KAUAI (HawaiiNewsNow) - Twenty years ago, Hurricane Iniki roared across our islands. A different kind of repair job is going on in the natural world. "Because there was such a large volume of people coming in and they were in the meeting rooms on the 10th floor, we had meeting rooms on the 8th floor and we had corridors that were filled, corridors that people had never seen before that we were putting people in to keep them safe.". A photo of a Kauai business building struck by Hurricane Iniki in 1992. It's been two decades since Sept. 11, 1992, that cataclysmic day when Hurricane Iniki devastated Kauai with widespread flooding, storm surge and 145 mph winds . The most notable storm was Hurricane Iniki. FROM THE ARCHIVES: 20 years later, Kauai residents remember Iniki, Hurricane Iniki Twenty Years Later - Monday Report with Dan Cooke, 'The Other Side of Paradise' with Lynn Kawano, KHNLPUBLICFILE@HAWAIINEWSNOW.COM (808) 847-3246, KGMBPUBLICFILE@HAWAIINEWSNOW.COM (808) 847-3246, KFVEPUBLICFILE@HAWAIINEWSNOW.COM (808) 847-3246, KSIXPUBLICFILE@HAWAIINEWSNOW.COM (808) 847-3246, KOGGPUBLICFILE@HAWAIINEWSNOW.COM (808) 847-3246. While only 10 percent of Kauai's visitors are Japanese, all the major resorts are owned by Japanese corporations. Hawaiian landfalling hurricanes are historically pretty rare. Nicholas Barretto on Twitter: "Hurricane Iniki was the most powerful hurricane ever recorded to strike . Hurricane Iniki Chickens. What do they think will be the outcome the next time theres another extreme weather event? the mayor said. Showing results for hurricane iniki. At least three people died, vegetation was stripped bare, more than 14,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, and most of the more than 100 resorts, hotels and condominums were knocked out of business by winds that averaged 145 mph. The Category 4 storm Hurricane Lane currently approaching Hawaii is the biggest weather threat the islands have faced in years. Hurricane Iniki (1992) is the most recent hurricane that hit the islands with devastating results. Yukimura is the first mayor to be elected on Kauai who has expressed some skepticism of development, winning on her third try. Despite the widespread damage, only a few people lost their lives during Iniki. He said the coordination between local and federal agencies was a "textbook" disaster response. Federal officials said Iniki (pronounced ee-NEE-kee), which had 160 mph wind gusts, was slightly weaker than Hurricane Andrew, which hit the Bahamas and then devastated southern Florida and parts . Iniki was the deadliest and by far the costliest hurricane to ever strike Hawaii. Items like candles, batteries, and flashlights quickly sold out. Winds topped 145 mph during landfall. Hurricane Lane, ultimately, a low impact storm. A photo of a . Enjoy this free story! A NOAA summary of the storm lays out the devastation Iniki caused, particularly for Kauai but also for nearby Oahu. "These guys are not here to get rich, they are here to help us put the island back together," she said of the workers. With a rare storm hitting Hawaii during the filming for the 1993 movie, it is any fan's guess on what scenes were added or scrapped due to the impacts of Mother Nature. Did you encounter any technical issues? The next day Hurricane Iniki took a sharp turn north and barreled into Kauai, causing the deaths of seven people and over $1.8 billion in damage. winds, mild compared with the 165 m.p.h. Iniki was a small but intense hurricane (minimal category Four) which made landfall on Kauai where it killed six people and caused $2.5 billion in damage. Photos from the Coco Palms Tour. Iniki was the deadliest and by far the costliest hurricane to ever strike Hawaii. The death toll of four was remarkably small for an intense hurricane. MEMORIES OF the costliest and most powerful storm on record to strike Hawaii will forever be seared in the minds of the two mayors, one who was leading at the time and the other who experienced the devastation through the eyes of a teenager. But some island properties were so badly damaged they won't be open until next fall. It took the utility more than two months to restore the grid to all neighborhoods, but some families still spent the holidays in the dark. The famed tunnel of eucalyptus trees near Koloa, a town on the southern coast, became a tunnel of toothpicks after Iniki struck. of 1. On Oahu, officials estimated that a third of the population evacuated. That wind it was an ominous sound, Kawakami said. Photo by Anne Schrager, special to the Chronicle . Were going to make it! Yukimura said. It hit the islands of Hawaii on September 11, 1992. But she definitely had the attention of all people in Hawaii.