My Summer Vacation: Disaster Preparations

During today's press conference the Governor, emergency management administrators, and weather forecasters stressed the importance of preparing for Hurricane Douglas now, rather than waiting until later to see if it might be coming their way. Besides 14 days of food and water per person, people are also now being advised to also have hand sanitizer and masks as part of their disaster preparedness supplies. We have enough since I added it to our supplies earlier in the pandemic; but I checked today to get supplies for The Roommates since all of them are still working. Plus I discovered that it is still a little difficult to find in Kohala so I have been taking sanitizer back when I go. Today I found a bunch of supplies at Longs; I texted all The Roommates to see if they wanted me to pick anything up for them.

Gallon jugs of hand sanitizer spray refill.

Pint sized bottles of gel hand sanitizer.

Packages of 10 disposable masks.

I got up at my usual hour before sunrise in order to get started with my birding walk at 10 minutes before sunrise. I did a lot better getting back in to birding than I did after the last trip; but this was only a 2-week break instead of a 4-week break. During my walk I saw Fred twice and also Lorraine and Ona with Rio. In the distance I saw Lynnette and June with Mary & Noe coming up Sierra. Later, as I was doing my cool down stretches Lynnette, June, & Noe passed by.

Seventeen minutes before sunrise on Maunalani

One minutes after sunrise on Sierra.

There were several changes along my route. The new house on the circle looks like it is almost done. The Lanipoko house is really coming along while the house a couple doors uphill has completed replacing the fence taken down by the tree last year. The house in the sharp turn has a cool driveway; the concrete pads has grass growing up between the pads. The house just downslope of it has orchids planted in the trees; one of the is blooming right now and attracted my attention.

The house on the circle.

The Lanipoko house.

The new fence is done.

The orchid in the tree is blooming!

Driveway with grass patches between concrete pads.

When I weighed myself this morning, I was disappointed. I gained 0.6 pounds over the last 2 weeks; I was not monitoring my calories like I should have.

All portions of the roof at Maunalani that is visible from the road looks like it is done. The portion of roof that was removed from the Castle Wing has been fully rebuilt and roofed. I noticed the new copper gutters and downspouts on the physical therapy building; I like how they contoured the downspout to follow the curve of the wall.

I checked on the hāpuʻu this morning; it was looking a little sunburnt. It also needs a little weeding and the shrubs around it need to be trimmed back a little. I hope to be able to get to it before classes start.

The predicted track of Hurricane Douglas has moved a little further north, taking it farther away from the north end of Hawaiʻi Island. Which means it will maintain its strength and speed a little longer than previously forecasted since it will be staying over the water for a longer period. It also won't hit Mauna Kea and dissipate. This is good news for Hawaiʻi Island but not so good news for Maui and Honolulu counties. But everyone still needs to keep up with preparations since all islands are within the cone of uncertainty and also because tropical storm force winds extend out up to 105 miles from the center.

Today's new COVID-19 cases reported is the highest it's ever been; 60 new cases bringing the total known cases to 1549. People are getting too relaxed about doing the right thing to keep this under control. Although there was no new death today there was another hospitalization. The number of cases released from isolation has dropped to a little over 74%.