Hats off to ALL of Kaua‘i’s disaster-response personnel! Ron Wiley and Marc Valentin have been going non-stop since Tuesday, and have quite a setup for their Civil Defense “eyes and ears.” Jaymes Song of Associated Press got a break from
Hats off to ALL of Kaua‘i’s disaster-response personnel! Ron Wiley and Marc Valentin have been going non-stop since Tuesday, and have quite a setup for their Civil Defense “eyes and ears.” Jaymes Song of Associated Press got a break from doing sports to visit the island, and some of the media members even discovered that the river overflows up in Lawa‘i Valley in the kind of rains we’ve been having. Jay Furfaro, Kelley Hoen, Stephanie Kaluahine Reid, and all those Princeville people are just amazing, as they worked together to run the resort and still were able to double as airport agents to get their guests out, as well as bring in needed supplies to the cut-off area. Eddie Topenio couldn’t go to work because of the road closure, but was helping at the Lihu‘e Airport commuter terminal. The shuttle even transported Gov. Linda Lingle and her party to the main terminal following their aerial survey and community meeting centered around the Kilauea flood. Hanalei School student Christian Green was out and about with mom Mona Green to get a first-hand feel for what it takes to be a journalist. Great job, Christian! Hope you get a good grade on that project. Mark Scribner and Joe Kaauwai were both on duty at the traffic stop point on the first day of the disaster, and during the governor’s visit, Scott Yagihara had the charge on the Kilauea side. Hats off, too, to the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) members for springing to action at the Kilauea Neighborhood Center. Bill Troutman called to say that The Garden Island carrier Dennis Barretto was there, and the CERT people were taking good care of him after he was stranded delivering papers.
