Just about every community leader who is key to seeing the island through a natural disaster gathered at Kaua‘i Community College Tuesday to talk about emergency preparedness with local businesses. The American Red Cross along with The Gas Co. partnered
Just about every community leader who is key to seeing the island through a natural disaster gathered at Kaua‘i Community College Tuesday to talk about emergency preparedness with local businesses.
The American Red Cross along with The Gas Co. partnered to host the event. Invited were department heads and directors of pivotal private and public organizations, agencies and businesses.
“The Gas Co. really wanted to open the dialogue (about preparing for disaster) and spark discussion among businesses,” Olomana Marketing spokeswoman Andrea Maglasang said.
The discussion was divided into two panels: primary responders and essential services. Among the panelists were representatives from the state and county Civil Defense; Kaua‘i Red Cross; the departments of Health, Fire, Police, Water and Transportation; Wilcox Memorial Hospital and the county’s Office of Economic Development as well as the island’s gas, electric, fuel and phone companies.
Across the board, the message was clear: Prepare, prepare, prepare.
As a three-part series, Tuesday’s panel represented the most prepared entities on-island. But the message echoed over and over again was that the effort doesn’t end with them.
“If you haven’t done any preparedness yet, it’s not too late to start. Start now,” Steve Kyono, Kaua‘i district engineer for the Department of Transportation, told the audience.
Steven Golden, a vice president at The Gas Co., said the company has organized preparedness discussions with other utilities and among its own employees, but this is the first time it or the Red Cross have coordinated such a wide-wielding effort to educate the community.
Planning
According to Victor Gustafson of the state Civil Defense Agency, the biggest disaster threats to Kaua‘i are tsunami, hurricane and flash flood due to severe weather.
As far as obtaining accurate information — particularly in the case of fast-moving tsunamis — Gustafson and Fire Chief Robert Westerman encouraged residents to trust the system to inform them.
“We’re here to warn you of things that are going to hurt you,” Gustafson noted.
Speaking on behalf of Kaua‘i Police Department, Acting Police Chief Clayton Arinaga said the top priority in a disaster situation should be taking care of employees and their families.
“Your employees should be at the top of the list,” Arinaga said.
Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative President and CEO Randy Hee reiterated that staff know their assigned duties during an emergency. For example, while crews are in the field repairing downed power lines, office staff might be preparing meals for employees.
Also planning ahead, the Department of Transportation ensures that it is not hindered in terms of supplies should a disaster strike, as clear roadways provide the necessary access for other agencies to respond.
The department’s Kaua‘i office has a 30-kilowatt generator and 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel to run it for about 36 hours, or the time it takes for initial response efforts to open a main highway route, Kyono said. In addition, there are 5,000-gallon storage tanks of diesel and gas for the department’s vehicles.
Practice
No matter how thick the disaster plan manual, if employees are not familiar with procedures, the planning becomes less effective.
Clarence Ishida of Wilcox Memorial Hospital said staff there trains for disaster scenarios by staging mass casualty and triage events.
“Without the practice, you’re not really going to be prepared,” Ishida said.
The hospital’s safety officer for 10 years, Ishida said the emergency plan has been written at least a dozen times.
Whether avian influenza or bioterrorism, the nature of threats change. So, too, should the contingency plans, he said.
Support systems
Just as the impact of a disaster is felt across multiple agencies, the panelists emphasized that emergency response requires a joint effort.
Utilities such as gas, electric, phone and water are acutely aware of how the loss of one affects the other. For this reason, the county’s utility providers plans for emergencies together. The group convenes within 24 hours of a disaster and leading up to one if possible.
During his presentation, Kyono showed a picture of road work taking place on Kuhio Highway following the Kaloko dam breach in 2006. He pointed to the transportation workers, police and utility crews all working together to help open up the highway.
On that note, Beth Tokioka, director of the county’s Office of Economic Development, said that during an emergency her office fields requests from businesses such as hotels and supports their needs as much as possible.
The office also works with the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau to ensure that visitors are not panicking and unnecessarily taxing emergency personnel.
“If we can’t do that, it impacts all the other groups,” Tokioka said.
She asked the audience to consider how it would manage being cut off for a couple of days without any support.
While the event’s focus was primarily large businesses, Alfred Darling, executive director of the Kaua‘i Red Cross, stressed that even an individual can lessen the burden by stocking up on water, canned foods and other recommended supplies.
“If you sustain at home first … there really is no need to rush,” said Alfred Darling, the Kaua‘i executive director for the Red Cross.
A second meeting on business preparations will take place by invitation only. However, the third in the series of meetings will be open to all Kaua‘i residents. That event will take place Sept. 22 at Kukui Grove Shopping Center.
