EDITORIAL
Disaster preparedness not optional in Hawai'i

The good news is that Hawai'i does not necessarily lie in the path of a damaging hurricane every time it's an El Niño year ending in 2.

Kaua'i and the Wai'anae Coast were ravaged by 'Iwa in 1982 and 'Iniki in 1992, both El Niño years.

Last year was an El Niño year, too, but we were lucky.

There's more good news. As reported by Advertiser science writer Jan TenBruggencate, it appears this year's hurricane season will occur under the opposite of El Niño conditions, known as La Niña. With cooler ocean waters prevailing, fewer tropical storms are likely to be spawned in the central Pacific — perhaps only two or three instead of an average four and a half storms per season.

What that means is that the odds of a hurricane hitting our islands are reduced. It does not mean that we can't be hit anyway, by an even worse hurricane than 'Iwa or 'Iniki.

Anyone who weathered those two storms will tell you that surviving such a storm is half the battle. The damage and disruption visited by hurricanes can change your life totally.

Hurricane preparedness information and survival kit contents are listed in the front pages of the telephone book.

Don't put off buying this stuff just because the odds of a hurricane encounter are lower this year. After all, we're way overdue for a tsunami or a big earthquake.