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10 yrs on gong la nina,now on cusp of el nino for the next 10 years,meaning 250 inches a year or more,and very good chance of typhoons or remnants of typhoons stalling over big island.
Been seeing this pattern now since small kids time,some 8 decades n counting.
We love the Ua - keeps all green n growing,and if we have 2 to 10 inches a day for 6 to 12 weeks straight as can be the norm,all the better.
Plenty humans not from here have moved here not knowing what can and does happen with the weather every other decade on average.
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quote:
Originally posted by ericlp
Shave Ice, Nanawale? High speed internet? Who is your provider? Do all the lots have high speed internet?
ericp, my provider is Hawaiian Telcom. Not sure if it is available throughout the whole subdivision.
Mimosa, I catch myself reading most of your post. Thank you for your informative responses and well written post, I can tell you are quite local and carry much of our aina's knowledge with you.(You may be trying to scare some here?) So let me get this strait about the Puna typical tropical rainy wet weather that is normal for Puna?. Did you say 250 inches a year or possibly up to 12 weeks strait of rain?. Good lord why would this weather here change so drastically?. With the smoldering lava flows and normal plume(vog) coming from the two vents, with this type of socked in rainy weather you talk about could and would be a bad soup for Puna. P.S. you may be the person I should ask about this Jackson chameleon and where to find them?. OR if this so called half deer half goat or sheep is really living on our southpoint side, if so what kind of deer?. OR where and what the Kamilo tree was planted for?. I hope I pronounced the tree right?. I found a few stumps and old logs of what I thought was Kamilo in Poihiki. Thanks again Mimosa.
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Wow, just waking up to a lot of info to absorb so early in the morning.......your afternoon. Another consideration for me is to be relatively close to some kind of medical facility, as that is one of the main reasons that I'm moving back.
Thailand is famous for cheap medical, but you get what you pay for and there's always the language barrier. Now that I'm officially elderly I qualify for Medicare/caid and I do have a few issues that i would feel more comfortable with in the US. Maybe I should start a separate post on medical in Puna??
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No need for another post on the medical care (lack of) here
I think you would be happier to look to the northern end of the island if you are looking for good medical care & cooler area out of the rain belt...
The area around Hilo is not known for good medical care, nor for being out of the rain belt, Puna has even less choices than Hilo for medical care & is also in the rain belt in the cooler areas....
There have been many posts on medical care here, just click on the "search" tab...
ADDED: Gypsy, Mimosa referred to the ENSO changes that regularly happen (yes, areas in upper Puna have gotten an AVERAGE of 250"/yr in the past)
There is some data from the last 20 years that may untie the current weather changes we are seeing from the ENSO pattern & that the Walker Atmospheric Circulation Cell over the entire Indo-Pac area SEEMS to have changed its' character (though somewhat they are tied, the current responses do not seem to be related to each other as they have been in the past) The problem is that these are huge data banks & we are just entering the time when we can actually do modeling on a scale that makes any of the predictions make any regional sense... little island climates like ours are much harder to add into these models for anything more than a very generalized..."gee, this looks a little different than it should be!" type response (but scientists put it in much geekier terms!)
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Just tried [without success] searching for Dr Tom Green who started as Pahoa's only Dr in the '80's and later moved his practice to Hilo for many years. Great family doctor and friend, but google searchonly reveals a phone number that is disconnected. Does anyone know what happened to Dr Tom and if he is still in practice??
If not, maybe recommendation to another good, compassionate family dr that could write a medical MJ card as well as being my familie's dr
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quote:
Originally posted by punathai
Wow, just waking up to a lot of info to absorb so early in the morning.......your afternoon..
yeah but you're in our tomorrow!
hey it almost sounds like your idea of the island is somewhat dated.. there's probably a lot to catch up on. in the big picture, consider that the island's population has at least quadrupled in the time you have been away.. and the civil infrastructure has and continues to lag way far behind. so now we have whole districts that were rural 25 years ago, and they are now in a large measure urbanized, but without most of the community infrastructure that is otherwise ever present wherever people cluster together. Puna is a classic example in that there's some where in the area of 50,000 people living here but we haven't but a few schools.. doctors.. recreational resources.. or consumer resources. Its just one big giant bedroom community for Hilo! with a corner store here and there!
and yet we all need doctors and dentists and libraries and schools and and and.. ! and to think the government is so far behind there is only one road for everyone. and thats a glaring period considering how basic of a frickin service we're talking about.
doctors? you need them? then my friend I don't think there's one person on this forum that would suggest you come this way looking for one! gee, statistically the state as a whole has been hemorrhaging.. as in they are moving away!!! something like 12 doctors a month for the last so many years! and all the while all the disenfranchised retirees from the mainland all of a sudden have decided Puna is where they like to sing their swan song.. so here come all these elderly folks and there goes all the docs! oh and btw.. a lot of docs.. as in a lot.. do not take medicare/caid
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Thanks dakine for the sobering update on Puna 2014. I was lucky enough to have seen the glory days of Puna in the 80's and was a pioneer in my sub division back before the building dept policed our homes and the helicopters invaded.
I do keep in touch with old friends and have an idea not to expect things to be the same, but I had no idea how bad it is now. Not good to hear that most Dr's don't take medicare. I am in the process of getting some assistance from the VA and hope that will fill that gap.
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You can always buy care from Kaiser like I do. They always have doctors and at least take medicare some. I don't know the details though. You will have to budget to fly/stay either in Oahu or the mainland for anything major though. The more I think about it, the more glad I came here as a relatively young person- and the more I realize that elderly people here have a very difficult time of it. Are you bringing kids with you? IF you are, then they'll be around (hopefully) to care for you, but otherwise you will be "on your own" a lot. It's pretty inconvenient here.
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Wiakea Uka middle zone around 800 foot elevation would be perfect,kinda up from KTA towards the golf course.
Most Drs and medical are in Hilo.
My own Dr is born n raised here but not accepting new patients.He makes house calls after 8pm every day of the week,he is up at 4am and at the office by 5am.
His cousin and wife also in the office,all Drs and all make house calls Medicare is good as is the VA and Kaiser is pretty darn good.If something major is needed though the VA will fly you to trippler or mainland for serious extended care.
My Dr recently put solar PV panels on his roof at office and his monthly power bill went from 30K to 10K a month.In 7 years after he pays off this system,free free free but he is also grid tie.
If you do choose North end of island,N.Hawaii community hospital is best of the best,in kanuela.Many of our friends drive there weekly for Dr appointments as the care far exceeds anything in Hilo town.
And as far as puna goes,no can,nothing here in the way of infrastructure ,it is the vast bedroom community of Hilo and at certain times of day,bumper to bumper traffic at a snails pace and heaven forbid an accident or some stall vehicle................I have seen it back up all the way to the Maka'ala intersection from Kea'au a time or two.
