Duct tape suggestion prompts sales rush

By Karen Blakeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

With news media reports full of people frantically seeking duct tape and plastic sheeting in case of disaster, Civil Defense authorities in Hawai'i are telling people to get a well-rounded emergency kit.

Said state Adjutant General Robert Lee, "I'm traveling to Washington next week, and my friends keep telling me I should bring plenty of duct tape. I just wish I would have bought stock in 3M."

Duct tape and plastic sheeting are items Hawai'i residents should consider having on hand, officials said, but only as a part of a fully thought-out emergency kit. A reliable battery-operated radio and a flashlight, with extra batteries for both, may be just as important, as is a supply of food and water to last each member of the family for at least three days.

"If it makes you feel better to have duct tape and plastic sheeting," said O'ahu Civil Defense Administrator Doug Aton, "go ahead and get some."

Those items aren't just a hedge against potential terrorist attacks or war acts, but also against the host of natural disasters people living on a volcanic island chain in the middle of the Pacific should prepare against.

"Just check the front of your phone book," Teixeira said.

Or, for even more ideas about what to include in a kit, check the Web site for the American Red Cross at www.redcross.org, said Cassandra Ely, interim CEO of the Hawai'i state chapter.

The Red Cross offers helpful literature on how to deal with the emotions that often accompany a disaster or threat of disaster. It's available through the Web site for the Red Cross or at the relief agency's offices.

The Red Cross worked closely with Civil Defense authorities in Hawai'i to develop a brochure explaining just what those color-coded threat indicators mean and what people should do as the threat level increases.

Brochures are being distributed through the O'ahu Civil Defense office and are making their way to local government offices. For those with good modems and enough computer savvy to handle a PDF file, they can be downloaded through the Web site for the state Civil Defense, www.scd.state.hi.us.

Hawai'i's system is consistent with the federal system, with colors ranging from green (low threat) to red (severe threat), but it also includes a black level, which means that an attack has been carried out within the state.

The Bush administration raised the nation's alert status to orange, or high, on Feb 7, after intelligence sources indicated that al-Qaida leaders were planning attacks against apartment buildings, hotels or other "lightly secured targets" in the United States, according to information released by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Gen. Lee said that across the country, state officials then examined the evidence and determined how great the threat would be at state and local levels.

In Hawai'i, he met with state and federal officials, discussed the actual threat to Hawai'i and the impact that an increased threat level would have on the state. He recommended that Gov. Linda Lingle increase airport and port security, but leave Hawai'i's overall threat level at blue, for guarded.

Half the states in the union also decided against an increase, he said.

The threat level was not increased when Americans learned earlier this week that North Korea has a nuclear missile delivery system capable of hitting the western coast of the Mainland, and therefore capable of reaching Hawai'i as well.

Federal and state officials say they are keeping a close eye on that one, and Lee offered these words of assurance.

"There is a big difference," he said, "between the ability to reach and the ability to hit."

North Korea may have developed the delivery system, but the Pyongyang regime has not had a chance to conduct trial runs, he said, and there is good reason to doubt their ability to aim with much accuracy.

"So," he said, "in a way, we can be glad that we are a small chain of islands in the middle of the Pacific."