ChanomiTalk

Recently, I discussed differences between tornadoes and hurricanes with some friends. The discussion was prompted by the passage of Hurricane Ana near Hawaii. Hurricanes are of course intense storms, and tornadoes are related to severe thunderstorms, but they are different. Since tornadoes are rare in Hawaii, it can be confusing to locals. Tornadoes occur much more frequently on the mainland, and can be very intense in inland states, whereas hurricanes occur in coastal areas. In areas frequently hit by tornadoes, it is common for homes to have basements for use as tornado shelters. These basements can be comfortable or very spartan depending on the owners but become places of refuge during tornado warnings. Both people and pets will retreat to these basements if there is a siren warning of the danger of impending tornadoes. Although I have never seen a tornado in person, I have seen the damage they cause. Tornadoes can completely destroy one neighborhood but leave an adjacent area untouched. For this reason, since tornadoes are so dangerous and unpredictable, it is best to take shelter if a tornado is coming.

Around 8:00 this morning the hurricane had passed the Big Island and was about 300 kilometers or so from Maui. When I went to work this morning around 5:30 it was very, very humid with absolutely no wind at all. Later on in the morning the winds gradually go stronger and were coming out of the south and at times the south east. The weather report said that there could be upwards to 8 meter waves on the south side which is the waikiki beach area! Fortunately they never got that big. The morning boat tours were just able to make it out but everything was canceled in the afternoon.. Whenever a hurricane or strong storm comes to Hawaii, Atlantis is not allowed to operate and must get all the boats and submarines set in a special hurricane setting because of Insurance regulations. This took about a half day to do. Because of the conditions Atlantis will not be operating tomorrow. The temperature has gotten much colder and it has been raining pretty hard from about 3:00 in the afternoon and at 8:00 in the evening it is still raining very hard. So Hawaii got lucky again and we continue with our record of 22 years without a hurricane!

If you remember, back in August Hawaii had a kind of hurricane scare. Just before the hurricane hit Hawaii it weakened into a tropical storm and once it hit the Big Island it was pretty much over except for some rain and somewhat windy conditions. Right now Hurricane Ana is on its way to the Big Island but this time it will pass it by about 115 miles. It is stronger than the one in August so the state is taking precautions. Today Hanauma Bay was closed and tomorrow all the state parks will be closed. I believe the Honolulu Harbor will also be closed. Atlantis Submarines will not have their tours and we will be tieing up all of the submarines and our other boats in preparation for any high winds. In August there was a rush to all of the stores for water, batteries and rice but that does not seem to be happening this time around. The general feeling is that it will just bring us some windy and rainy weather but that is about all. Hopefully that is all we will have to deal with!