HANALEI — The first thing you’ll see when you drive north into Hanalei is a boarded-up building, but just down the road at Ching Young Village, it’s business as usual.
At Spinning Dolphin Designs, owner Melanie Kubler said she was only half-open Friday.
“We usually screen print the designs for people and I need my oven on, but I’m not turning my oven on today. I have shirts already printed, so I figured they can come in and check it out just in case I need to get out real fast, “ she said.
The only thing Kubler said she was concerned about was the possibility of the river flooding and the bridge closing.
During April’s flood there was about five inches of water in her store. As a result, they had to tear out the carpet and repaint.
“It could have been a lot worse,” she said.
Kubler said she doesn’t think Tropical Storm Lane will hit, but it will bring the North Shore a lot of rain.
“I’m figuring the bridge will probably be closed one day or so, I won’t be able to get down here. I don’t believe we’re here again, the price of living in paradise,” she said.
At Big Save in Hanalei’s Ching Young Village, Nelson Braet, visiting from Chicago, said he wasn’t really concerned about the possibility of Hurricane Lane hitting Kauai.
“We were down in Hanalei, now we’re in Princeville so we’re on higher ground. It’s going to be a tropical storm. It seems like it’s going to weaken and go west,” he said.
At Banandi Crepe and Coffee Shop, Hanalei resident Charles Dunlop was playing Connect Four with his wife and daughter.
“It just got downgraded so I don’t think we’re going to get hit, so that’s good. It was kind of tense. I think everyone felt tense, I think the island felt tense,” he said.
As part of their preparations for the possibility that the hurricane could hit Kauai, the family stocked up on food and water. The one thing they wished they’d purchased was a generator. They’re planning on special ordering a generator and chain saw for future events.
“We were ahead of the curve though. I kind of felt like there was a lot of people scrambling at the end,” he said. “There’s another low pressure system out there, I hate to say it.”
Visiting from Oregon, Jonathan Thompson and Noah Riley said when they first heard about the possibility that a hurricane could impact Kauai, they prayed about leaving, but felt peace about staying.
“I was shocked that no one had mentioned anything to us back at home that there was a potential hurricane and actually a couple of friends back at home, part of our church group, they knew about it, but they never mentioned anything to us coming out here,” he said.
When they asked their church group why they didn’t tell them there was the possibility of a hurricane, their friends said they didn’t have any fear about it, he said.
“Knowing that and knowing we’re out here for a reason kind of gave us calmness of heart. For me personally, I was actually OK with it. I’m from Portland, Oregon, we have rain all the time,” he said.
Despite their calmness of heart, Riley purchased survival gear for the group at Ace Hardware in Princeville Shopping Center.
“My sister’s been in multiple hurricanes, she lives in Florida. I wasn’t really worried about it. We watched it pretty closely on the radar. I have a pretty good way to figure out what the storm’s going to do next,” he said.
At Princeville Shopping Center, Mariah Luciano was working at Hot Tropic, an outdoor kiosk.
“It makes it harder because everything’s just blowing off of the stand right now, but it’s cool. It gives me something to do just fixing everything,” she said.
The Kilauea resident said it wasn’t that bad to be working outside during a hurricane watch.
“It’s not as windy as I would have imagined and as long as it’s not raining, it’s sunny right now, but if it rains, it comes right in here and that’s unfortunate,” she said.
Some of her earrings and clothing flew off with the wind gusts, but she tapped them down.
With the recent Hurricane Hector warning, Luciano said she didn’t do much to prepare for this hurricane.
“I’m kind of on the fence as to whether it’s going to be a big deal or not because they just did this last week and nothing happens. If it does, batten down the hatches. It’s a little wind, it’ll be fine,” she said.
At Ace Hardware in Princeville, Manager Roy Smith said they had run out of many items and the past few days have been hectic.
The store is out of flashlights, D batteries, stoves, candles, bottled water, fire wood and most propane.
“People getting everything we can sell them. It’s been crazy,” he said.
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Bethany Freudenthal, crime courts and county reporter, can be reached at 652-7891 or bfreudenthal@thegardenisland.com.
