Is Anyone Disappointed?

[David M]

Sam
perhaps your wish for "devastation" was more intense than what most of us felt.
David

Ninole Resident

[terry.way]

quote:

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Originally posted by 808blogger

This has got to be the dumbest idea that is coming out of this entire situation. I have heard multiple morons say this. How can ANYONE possibly think this way? IF that works then why doesn't the government just go around smashing everything up? heck why doesn't everyone smash things up? Its good for the economy right? Why not require every home owner to burn their house down every 5 years? imagine how well the economy will be doing if everyone is getting their houses rebuilt every five years.

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You're describing Broken Window theory.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_...ken_window

There's another Broken Window theory that describes how a neighborhood goes downhill with just one or two unfixed broken windows. Unrelated.

Smashing things has a hidden cost to the economy.

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I was weirdly disappointed nothing more happened. Profoundly relieved, yes, but I have to admit I wanted to, um, exercise my preparedness a little more thoroughly.

[peregrine]

If instead of media hype we had calm and cool reason in our attention and preparedness, we would have less adrenaline build up and therefore less "disappointment". Natural disasters are a part of life. In the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the people who fared best were the isolated "primitive" tribes on some of the islands. The more "primitive" they were, the sooner in advance of the tsunami they got to higher ground. I think there is a big lesson in that.

[Carey]

We DID have a small wave....and it would have been bigger (and more to the scale some would have liked) if the tsunami had hit at high tide, rather than at low tide....

Both airports are within the tsunami zone... the RUNWAYS are not, but are built up... for Hilo, the whole cargo loading area is WITHIN the tsunami zone....

The breakwater may seem to be a non-issue, until you research the way things used to be transported into Hilo... if the breakwater were "bust up" for a time, the harbor in Hilo would not be as reliable (if it were spared).... cost of goods would go up (and has in past tsunami events) AND perishables could perish at anchor....

I am not trying to berate, but to advise... I did not single anyone out (although I was singled out)

I have been vacationing when hurricanes have hit (totally screws with your vacation plans), was in a house when a tornado hit & the aftermath - house repairs, magnificent trees gone, no power for a week, have lived through ice storms & snowstorms that have shut down the whole area I lived in.....

I can tell any of you that have not had this "fun": IT IS NOT FUN.... some people die without needed services, some of your hard earned money is wasted (inc. everything in your frig is turned into a putrid waste... ), no running water (carrying water for a week is a true pain...more than that .... NO THANKS!) the cost of basics goes up & if you do not have cash... you may not be able to buy (no electricity means no bank cards.... did anyone here have the forethought to get a few weeks of cash out? ) totally not fun...

[Rob Tucker]

Hmmm. Thanks Carey,

That's a good point about getting some cash. While I was reasonably assured by a stocked pantry and gas cans full I overlooked the aspect of cash. Hitting the ATM would have cost nothing and been a wise move.

I'll add it to my list of to do's.

Mahalo

[808blogger]

HELCO only operates diesel as peak generation boost. the base level is generated by fuel oil, oahu is 100% fuel oil (well and the carbon arc but its not much).

quote:

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Originally posted by Carey

F
including the diesel we need for the lions share of the electricity is not coming, take out the two tsunami zone airports for a few weeks, and we are really in a mess....


BTW: there is hardly any backup storage for our electric grid (day-days time frame)... ports out, no diesel scenario becomes bleak for many and the wonder of it is that the grid is all controlled by a computer control center... even with some non-diesel load capabilities, with our current island wide drought, we would have been looking at water as being THE crucial commodity. No to low pumping capabilites..

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[808blogger]

you can' eat cash, better to not need to spend at all in an emergency, better to just sit back and not that if you really were stuck for XX days with no power or resources you'd be ok. what are you going to go buy? if its REALLY bad, so will prices because there will be instant shortage. Already they ran out of gas at wikiwiki in orchidland by yesterday early afternoon. i think having "cash" in general is over rated. i think usable stuff is better in a real shtf situation.

quote:

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Originally posted by Rob Tucker

Hmmm. Thanks Carey,

That's a good point about getting some cash. While I was reasonably assured by a stocked pantry and gas cans full I overlooked the aspect of cash. Hitting the ATM would have cost nothing and been a wise move.

I'll add it to my list of to do's.

Mahalo

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[punafish]

This is a tongue-in-cheek thread if I ever saw one. If not we'd surely be seeing a lot more indignation. Nothing wrong with a little levity after a stressful day.

Been thinking about the briefest way to describe my mixed feelings from yesterdays tsunami experience--I got it down to 3 words: anticlimactic happy ending.

I'm grateful for the chance to reflect on where my preps fell short so I can better prepare next time; and grateful that I'm a little wiser than yesterday.

[Rob Tucker]

Anyway, Thanks Carey. Good advice as usual.

[Carey]

HELCO uses #2 diesel - clearly marked on each of their storage tanks...(known to some as fuel oil), Millions of gallons of it at the generating stations every day.... literally off loaded & burned...

ETA: although we have always had a very well stocked pantry.... I do know that there are some things that are nice to have, like fresh produce that I do not grow & such (late Feb. is one of the few times that I have a low in my garden output, something else to think about! Of course Dec. is when the overflow of citrus comes in... least a disaster then, we would have our Vitamin C!)
Nice thing about cash, most anybody will take it when the going is tougher...