Some common trees here are very fast growing with soft wood and shallow roots. It doesn't take much for them to go. Albizzia, and ficus is another one. In my area, African tulips.
I've asked HELCO to cut the trees back from the main trunk lines on my road, but they won't cut them back farther than five feet away, and if the trunks are not in the HELCO easement, then they are County trees, and the two go back and forth declining responsibility.
So when we get abnormal wind, there are hundreds and even thousands of trees near power lines that can interrupt the power, down live lines on the road, start arcing.
There was a big piece of dead tree in a road cut on the Scenic Route that was literally detached and help up with only vines around it, a very busy road, and it took months to cut it.
Sorry about the rant, but if the trees go, it won't be any surprise. Basically they prefer to do clean up than preventive trimming. It's cheaper.
I doubt the wind in my area gets much over 30 mph at any time, so I hold my breath to see what will happen. On the west side I lived with strong wind on a regular basis, but different trees grow in leeward Kohala (to an extent). It's odd that there's much higher wind in leeward Kohala than in windward Big Island.
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I spent 20 years in Alaska myself, where 100 mph gusts are a regular, yearly accurance. Through the glacier valleys. Usually around the first part of the year. I don't recall the power going out but once or twice in that twenty years.
Infrastructure here is more laid back. If someone passes gas to loud, its likely
to knock out a transformer.
When in Rome.. Do as the Romans do....
Were the lines undergrounded or above ground?
Were there 60 foot trees swaying onto the main lines in a light wind? Here there are.
I went to high school in the Mojave Desert, where the wind meant business, though not 100 mph. The power didn't go out much. Infrastructure is built to handle the conditions that are normal and a bit beyond, if we're lucky.
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Yeah, The rains.
I still get twitchy when it lets go around here and comes down hard.
I get visions of my house floating away like a raft.
But, that's nothing compared to what could come with this train of weather.
At least we're on a hump with lower terrain all around us.
Plus, we're very flat with no likely runoff channels aimed at us.
One of the things I looked at and liked about our place before buying.
I'm pretty sure the worst I'll have to deal with is an extreme case of anxiety until the rains let up.
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Was a Democrat until gun control became a knee jerk, then a Republican until the crazies took over, back to being a nonpartisan again.
This time, I can no longer participate in the primary.
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quote:
Originally posted by KathyH
Were the lines undergrounded or above ground?
My neck of the woods ( prince William sound) Every thing is buried.
We also had micro grids. Which means if the regular power supply failed...we could get power from our own backup plant. ( town of 4000)
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I always find it strange that people around here are buying up bottled water ... WHY? Hawaii has the cleanest water on the planet... Maybe people think that those plastic bottles that leach chemicals into the water esp, when it sits for long periods of time is better than the water spigots right on 130?
Granted, I have private water but it's just as good.... I do have a 3M 6month water filter just because. It's a cheap filter and probably just a feel good active carbon one. Anyway... I think people should think a bit about bottle vs county/private water before spending bucks on bottled water. Not only is it LESS healthy (imo) but it also produces a lot of WASTE as even recycling plastic bottles a lot end up in the trash and sucks down a bit of energy to recycle them.
Sorry to side track this thread, but I just find it funny when ever there is something on the way, the first thing that is gone is the water. We should be so fortunate to have such good water here, and was one of the main reasons why I moved over was to drink the water!
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During the tsunami scare, Fukushima, the water to Hilo was turned off. That's a large town where very few people have catchment.
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As we are discussing how each has chosen to prepare, hopefully to generate more good ideas, I hope each of us realizes there are different views & not dismiss/debate some one else's views ....
Whether you buy bottles, or bottle up your own water, it is very important to remember that if the power goes out, so will your pump (even with catchment) and your ability to filter the water on catchment is reduced, as the water pressure is not up to the level many filters are designed for...
We used to live in an area that had private wells & daily to weekly "tree contact" power outages, along with a few weeks outages for lightning, ice or tornados... best to have enough water available BEFORE you need it, and for some people, that is in buying bottled water....
From those old days, I still start filling big containers of water (buckets, garbage containers & such) in all the tubs (showers) in the house whenever I hear thunder in the distance... having lived through a while without the simple joys of flushing a toilet!
Added: for those on catchment, if you are totally relying on going out to the tank for water, do you have a plan for getting the water in storm weather without trashing your cover? asking so that some will at least think about the process....some here have added syphon valves (our old pool have a nice 3-way valve for water shut off/water drain to the water pump that would be handy for this\...just make sure there is a cap/shutoff so that you do not lose the entire catchment if someone doesn't close the valve all the way!
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We use county water with a Brita filter for drinking/cooking; Catchment for everything else.
Our catchment system has one spigot before the pump that allows for gravity flow.
We also have a battery powered backpacking filter that would work well in a pinch.
I noticed lines at the County water spigots yesterday, and am glad people are taking emergency preparation seriously.
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Although we are ready, this waiting is nerve wracking so we went to Pahoa at 6:30 AM for breakfast....
Malama was already busy! But they had a Matson container there and shelves did not look empty.
Longs had a container on their dock too.
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