A lot of people contribute to emergency preparedness
Whenever there’s a storm system in the Pacific Ocean, the county’s Maui
Emergency Management Agency is keeping an eye on it, along with the State of
Hawaii Emergency
Management Agency and the National
Weather Service.
Once the storm passes the 140th west longitude (known as the 140th parallel), it takes about five days to reach Hawaii, and that’s when all three agencies (as well as the emergency management for the other counties) begin talking to one another and start preparing for the storm’s arrival.
As the storm gets closer, MEMA begins communicating with partners who will be staffing the county’s Emergency Operations Center.
It’s a long list of every organization that is responsible for one of the following areas: public safety, infrastructure and human services. The list includes:
Maui County
Corporation Counsel, Department of Environmental Management, Department of Finance, Department of Housing & Human Concerns, Department of the Managing Director, Information Technology Services Division, Maui Emergency Management Agency, Department of Fire & Public Safety, Maui Police Department, Mayor’s Office, Mayor’s Office — Communications Team, Department of Parks & Recreation, Department of Planning, Prosecuting Attorney, Department of Public Works, Department of Transportation, Department of Water Supply.
State of Hawaii
Department of Land & Natural Resources — Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Department of Education, Department of Health, DOT — Airports, DOT — Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, DOT — Harbors, DOT — Highways, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, Governor’s Office liaison, Air National Guard 292 Combat Command, National Guard Army 230th Engineer Company, Department of Human Services, University of Hawaii Maui College.
Federal government support services
Coast Guard —Marine Safety, Coast Guard — Station Maui, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Urban Search & Rescue Incident Support Team, Federal Department of Health and Human Services, National Parks Service. Non-governmental organizations
American Red Cross, American Medical Response, Hawaiian TELCOM, Hawaii Healthcare Emergency Management, Coalition, Maui Hotel and Lodging Association, Maui Visitors Bureau, Maui Electric Company, Maui Health Systems, Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service, Spectrum Hawaii, Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster.
Each organization sends at least one representative, sometimes two, to staff shifts at the EOC during an approaching storm. Each individual representing their organization stays and works anywhere between six- to 20-hour shifts, depending on available personnel. The shifts begin when a Hurricane Warning or Tropical Storm Warning is issued, 36 hours from the forecasted impact of the storm system.
During these shifts we have operational decisions to make, such sending county employees home to prepare for the storm, closing down schools, opening up shelters, monitoring for potential storm damage and emergency calls. There are National Weather Service briefings for the state and counties via video conferencing four times per every 24-hour period before and during the storm.
After the storm passes, MEMA is still working with HI-EMA, FEMA and VOAD to gather storm damage information to see if the county qualifies for disaster assistance. For example, right now we are trying to qualify for a Presidential Disaster Declaration, which is why it’s important that anyone impacted file storm damage information with MEMA so there’s a better chance of meeting the federal threshold for assistance.
This is a lot of coordination and manpower for storms, some of which are scoffed at by certain members of the public who think government makes “too big of a deal” about emergency preparedness. But there are examples of why this systematic approach is important across the globe. Typhoon Mangkhut forced the evacuation of 3 million people in Southern China; storm damage in Japan after Typhoon Jebi was estimated between $3 billion to $5.5 billion; and closer to home Hurricane Florence has killed 36 people, left 343,000 more without power and killed 3.4 million in farm livestock, such as chickens and pigs.
The bottom line is, when storm systems arrive anything can happen, and there are a lot of folks who are a part of a lot of different organizations helping to keep Maui County safe during these events. They all get shoved into a little room and get very little sleep while all this is going on, and I’m very glad that we can finally recognize who they are and what they do.
“Our County,” a column from Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa, discusses county issues and activities of county government. The column usually appears on the first and third Fridays of the month.