Report on the State of Physical Infrastructure in Hawaii

VII. BuildingInfrastructure Resiliencyto Natural HazardsTropical Systemswithin 75 Miles of Hawaiifrom 1959 - 2009Lack of redundancy puts transportation and energyinfrastructure systems at riskThe state of Hawaii is dependent on airports and harbors for virtuallyall commodities, as approximately 80 percent of its food and 95 percentof its fuel is imported. Any significant disruption of the transportationsystem will produce statewide effects. Hawaii lacks redundantinfrastructure, and the critical infrastructure at power plants andrefineries result in single points of failure.Hurricane. The Hawaiian Islands have recorded three destructive stormssince 1959. Hurricane Dot passed directly over Kauai in August 1959packing 130 mile per hour winds. Hurricane Iwa came within 30 mileswest of Kauai over Thanksgiving 1982 with winds up to 80 miles perhour. Hurricane Iniki passed directly over Kauai on September 11, 1992.It was the most destructive storm to ever hit the islands resulting in morethan $2.7 billion in disaster assistance costs. Hurricane Daniel barelymissed the islands in July 2000. Hurricane Jimena passed 60 miles southof the island of Hawaii in September 2003. In August 2007, HurricaneFlossie threatened the state as a Category 2 hurricane before dissipating100 miles south of the Big Island. In August 2009, Hurricane Felicia wasdowngraded from a Category 4 hurricane to a Category 2 hurricaneas it moved west-northwest toward Hilo, Hawaii, at 13 mph. Felicia’smaximum sustained winds registered at 140 mph, making it the mostintense Eastern Pacific storm since 2006’s Hurricane Daniel. Hurricanesand tropical storms have also caused millions of dollars in damage alongour coastlines with the advance of storm-driven surf and storm surge.11