Hotels 'have some work to do'

By Kelly Yamanouchi
Advertiser Staff Writer

If a tsunami hits O'ahu, tens of thousands of tourists may not know how to react. Waikiki hotels should do more to prepare workers and guests for evacuation, tsunami experts said at a workshop yesterday.

Thursday is the 58th anniversary of the tsunami that the International Tsunami Information Center calls the largest natural disaster on record ever to hit Hawai'i. This photo shows the destruction the tsunami caused in Hilo, where 96 people died. An earthquake in the Aleutian Islands generated the tsunami. Advertiser library photo • April 1946

Hotels should educate employees better, put safety tips and procedures in rooms and draw up natural disaster plans covering tsunami, Wienert said. "My guess is we have probably 50 to 60 percent of our properties that have plans," but many of those plans are not communicated adequately to all employees, she said.

Everyone from concierges to housekeepers should know the disaster plan, "because you know as a guest the first person that you see wearing a hotel name tag, you're going to ask a question," Wienert said. "The last thing you want to do is have the housekeeper tell them one thing and the front desk tell them something else."

One factor that may be keeping hotels from preparing sufficiently is that decades have passed since the most recent major tsunami. Because of that, many people who are unfamiliar with tsunami — including new residents, younger kama'aina and tourists — don't take the threat seriously.

"Just because we haven't had one in 40 years doesn't mean we won't have one five minutes from now," said Stuart Weinstein, a geophysicist with the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.

Yesterday's workshop, which started off with a siren wail and simulated public announcement of a tsunami, came in advance of Tsunami Awareness Month in April.

Thursday marks the 58th anniversary of the tsunami that caused 96 deaths in Hilo, 15 on Kaua'i, 14 on Maui and nine on O'ahu, the largest natural disaster in Hawai'i on record, according to the International Tsunami Information Center. It was caused by an earthquake in the Aleutian Islands.

A major tsunami could cause more damage now since there are thousands more residents and tourists in the Islands.

Japanese tourists are often familiar with tsunami and the dangers, but with a growing share of Mainland tourists, there are more who do not know how deadly it can be.

"Japanese guests — they know what the tsunami is. You say tsunami, before you can say anything else they're running," said Jerry Dolak, Outrigger Hotels & Resorts safety and security specialist. But in the case of others, "They could be from Iowa, Idaho — they don't know what the word tsunami means."

Dolak said the workshop yesterday helped to illustrate the important differences between a tsunami and regular big waves.

Tsunami have caused more deaths in Hawai'i than all other natural disasters combined, experts say.

The waves can wrap around all shores of multiple islands and on shore act like flash floods.

In a tsunami, "a 3-foot wave can kill you — and I don't think people really understood that," Dolak said. Tsunami waves often carry large debris such as parts of cars or houses. They are also not surfable because they do not curl and have no face that can be ridden. They are more like a rapidly rising tide.

Outrigger, which has 15 hotels in Waikiki, trains employees for tsunami preparedness through workshops, Dolak said. After evaluation by civil defense engineers, Outrigger found it can evacuate guests staying between Kalakaua Avenue and the ocean to upper levels or safe hotels using an emergency broadcast system, Dolak said.

Most hotels in Waikiki can simply evacuate up, meaning the third floor or higher, as long as they are concrete buildings with steel reinforcement. Otherwise, they can evacuate away from the water.

At Outrigger's hotels on Kuhio Avenue, guests are recommended to stay in their rooms to keep them away from the shoreline.

"Our biggest problem is people just want to watch it," Dolak said. Experts say if you're close enough to watch a tsunami, you're too close to escape in time.

The other danger is that some people may try to drive away from shore, which in the past has caused traffic gridlock. Experts recommend walking.

Tsunami experts said the tourism industry should be prepared not just for tsunami, but also for the aftermath. Hotels should have plans of what to do in case there is no water or electricity or similar consequences, Wienert said.

Dan Walker, O'ahu civil defense tsunami adviser, said damage to utilities and infrastructure on the island could affect hotel operations and officials should consider the locations of facilities such as power plants, electrical substations, water pumping stations and sewage treatment facilities in preparing for tsunami.

"If we don't do those things in time, maybe there'll be hearings after the fact as to who knew what when," Walker said.

Reach Kelly Yamanouchi at 535-2470 or kyamanouchi@honoluluadvertiser.com.