Within less than a year, a major tsunami and two devastating hurricanes have redefined the extent of damage possible from coastal disasters.

On Dec. 26, 2004, an earthquake along the Indian-Burma trench led to a tsunami with waves higher than 100 feet. Nearly 300,000 people lost their lives in several countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

In August and September, hurricanes Katrina and Rita struck the Gulf Coast near New Orleans. Property damage from these storms was unprecedented and may exceed by several times the property losses from Hurricane Andrew, previously one of the worst natural disasters in the United States.

Today, work developed in Hawai'i through the support the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, the University of Hawai'i's Sea Grant program, the Coastal Zone Management Office, the Pacific Services Center and the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration is being used to assist in the recovery of areas devastated by the hurricanes and the tsunami.

The Hawaii Coastal Hazard Mitigation Guidebook provides scientific and technically based standards on how and where to build to best withstand potential disasters. These measures are appropriate for new development, as well as for areas being rebuilt or recovering from a natural disaster.

The guidebook, completed in April, covers hurricanes, tsunamis, coastal and bluff erosion, flooding and wave inundation. The approach is unusual in that it uses scientific standards to recommend where and how structures should be built, and as the project gets developed, the guidebook recommends standards and flexible implementation strategies to ease the economic burden of these measures.

Since the dangers for each of these hazards overlap, four multihazard zones are identified that take into account how these hazards might affect particular regions. Addressing all the hazards at the same time as a "mitigation strategy" is indeed the trend, both nationally and internationally. For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency uses a similar approach with its guidebooks and coastal construction manuals addressing several hazards at the same time.

I recently was invited by officials in Louisiana and Indonesia to tour the devastated areas and discuss Hawai'i's guidebook. Turning to Hawai'i as an example, officials in both Indonesia and Louisiana have requested that we help them develop a similar hazard guidebook, which would be used to aid in their own recovery and rebuilding process. Given that there are 64 parishes in Louisiana (in Hawai'i, we call them counties) and each wants to do something slightly different, the flexible approach provided by the guidebook is ideal for their situation. In addition, FEMA has used the book for recovery efforts in Mississippi.

On the flip side, Hawai'i, too, can learn much from the tsunami and the hurricanes. Unlike Indonesia or Louisiana, Hawai'i is subject to both tsunamis and hurricanes.

While the hurricane season may soon pass, tsunamis can occur anytime and, from a historical perspective, Hawai'i is overdue.

In observing damaged areas in Indonesia and Louisiana, one gets the impression that many of these areas look like Hawai'i.

Many beaches in west Sumatra look strikingly similar to Hawai'i's, with limestone sand, offshore reefs and palm trees.

In Louisiana, strip malls such as those found in Hawai'i, with their corner gas stations, fast-food outlets and accessory stores, were left barren after extensive flooding. I was saddened and struck by the extent of flood damage, stretching for miles and marked by the ubiquitous high-water stains on buildings, walls and street signs.

A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine that the coastal area in Indonesia or a commercial mall in Louisiana could be totally transformed by a worst-case natural disaster. Yet, just as the worst-case scenario of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans can occur, so too can Hawai'i's worst-case scenario of a major hurricane hitting O'ahu.

When Mother Nature strikes, areas that seem safe may no longer be. Thus it is important to do all that is feasible with regard to putting hazard-mitigation measures into effect.

A hazard assessment for major development projects is an important start. Also, increased flexibility in the development process, coupled with innovative design and proactive planning, can be used to create communities that are significantly more resilient to hazards and suffer little economic impact.

Hawai'i could encourage and even provide incentives in the form of a tax credit for people to consider low-cost retrofits of houses built before the 1991 Uniform Building Code. The retrofits could better connect roofing to the foundations of houses to prevent the roof from blowing off during a hurricane.

Homeowners can do their part by buying protective shutters or plywood that protect windows from breaking and creating internal pressurization on the roofing structure. Such pressurization can increase uplift forces by 50 percent and significantly increase the chance that a roof will be lifted off.

Yet few if any homeowners in Hawai'i have taken such steps, perhaps because of the mistaken belief that the worst-case scenario cannot happen. The examples in Louisiana and Indonesia serve as an important reminder that worst-case scenarios can, indeed, happen anywhere.

For more information on the Hawai'i guidebook, call the University of Hawai'i Sea Grant program at 956-7031.

Dennis J. Hwang is an attorney with Reinwald O'Connor & Playdon, specializing in coastal zone management, environmental, land-use and property law, and is the author of the Hawaii Coastal Hazard Mitigation Guidebook. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.