Updated at 2:21 p.m., Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Coast Guard surveying for surge damage
Advertiser Staff
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Chief Petty Officer Marsha Delaney said there have been no reports of any serious damage resulting from a series of surges in Hawai'i harbors between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. that resulted from an 8.3 magnitude earthquake early this morning near the Kuril Islands north of Japan.
Delaney said the Coast Guard had not received any "distress reports" from vessels in the water at the time the surges arrived here.
On Kaua'i, however, a surge through the Nawiliwili Small Harbor area flipped over a boat dock at a Coast Guard Station in the harbor, Delaney said.
"I'm told it will have minimal impact on our operations there since all of the boats that tie up there are trailerable and were all out of the water at the time the surge rolled through," Delaney said.
A preliminary estimate sets the cost of repositioning the pier at about $5,000, Delaney said, noting that the boats will be launched from a nearby state boat ramp.
One Coast Guard HH-65 "Dolphin" helicopter is circling Kaua'i, checking for damage while a second Dolphin chopper is checking for damage along the coastline of O'ahu, Delaney said.
The C-130 airplane is scheduled to fly over Kaua'i, Molokai, Lana'i and Maui to check for possible surge damage.
Civil Defense reported that the water levels in some areas, including Hanalei and Nawiliwili on Kaua'i and Hale'iwa's Alii Beach Park on O'ahu, receded between three feet and five feet before a surge moments later restored waters to previous levels.
The surge at Nawiliwili reportedly washed over a seawall there and into the parking lot of the Nawiliwili Small Boat Harbor.
The state Department of Transportation closed all commercial ports in the state this morning to incoming vessels as a preventative measure, said department spokesman Scott Ishikawa. State officials were concerned about the possibility of additional surges and wanted to be "safe rather than sorry," he said.
