Blue Smoke

Note: This post was started on 08/19 but posted after Spectrum came back on line on 08/20. 

Ever since I watched Mirror: A Tale of Twin Cities & noticed that the Emperor of the Merpeople, Su Mo, had dark blue hair, I have wanted to dye my hair blue again like Kai & I did when he was in high school. I used Manic Panic's After Midnight last month & my hair was the color of my car; a bright teal blue. I wanted a darker color, closer to the navy blue that Su Mo's hair is. This month I tried Lime Crime Unicorn Hair's Blue Smoke; it is darker, but still did not turn out as dark a blue as I would like. 

I made a quick stop at Lapakahi State Historical Park today to check out the progress of the tree-clearing. They have removed the parts of the trees that blocked the gates & also put up a sign that should be clear to tourists that they are not allowed to come in when the gates are closed! I also scanned the goat trap from the entry road with my binoculars; no goats. Jaime sent photos of uprooted trees at Hapuna near Dane's office trailer.  

Hope this works to keep tourists safe.

Dane's office; I would park under that tree when I helped at base yard. (Photo by Jaime)

This one took out staff picnic table. (Photo by Jaime)

Libby got a call today; her car was ready to pick up! So I gave her a ride to Kawaihae to her car repair place. It is off the same road that Hamakua Macadamia Nut Factory is on so I stopped to check on Horace; he's the guy that was walking to Kona from Hāwī back in June. Horace was not there; apparently he had to go back to the Marshall Islands for a family emergency. But they told me he was OK.

My return was conveniently timed, I was able to swing by to pick up my Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) bag of fruits & vegetables. Today was also the Pay What You Can Pop-up Farmers Market; they were held at the same place & it was packed with cars! 

On my way home, I stopped at Trudy's house; her cousin Vance was up on her roof fixing it. I got to get a close-up look at what she shrugged off as a "little problem." It turns out the wind had blown a bunch of water in through the gap where the pieces of roofing were torn off & soaked the canec ceiling boards; 2 large rain-soaked chunks fell down! One portion was in the kitchen & the other was in the bathroom. It's a lot bigger of a problem than she let on.

Kitchen.

Bathroom, right over shower area.

 

Immediately after I pulled in to my driveway, a white car I did not recognize pulled in right behind me. It was hoa hānau Bill in a different vehicle than I usually see him in; usually he is in a truck. He stopped in to check on whether we had any damage from Lālā; they had none. Because I had taken the time to talk to him, I forgot that I did not tie Moʻo before I opened the gate; but she did not & zoomed out & immediately ran to Jessie's backyard to chase the feral chickens. Which is a good thing! Rather than running away up the road or into traffic, she has a one-track mind & chases chickens! I brought the car around & parked on the other side of Jessie's garage & had a great view of the collapsed shed for the chlorination unit. Moʻo quickly jumped in to the back seat; another example of a conditioned response, she thinks she is going for a ride! And truthfully she is, but it's just a very short one back to the garage. I don't scold her when she comes back to me because I want her to associate coming to the car as a fun thing not a punishment. 

The post-Lālā chlorinator shed.

While parking the car, I noticed there was a flower on the dragonfruit & also a small green fruit. When I was up close taking photos, I then noticed that the orchid was also blooming!

Dragonfruit flower.

Young dragonfruit.

Have no idea what kind of orchid this is.

Close-up of flowers.

The message from the Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense Agency today noted that they are monitoring another disturbance that may become a problem. They also gave a brief summary of current disaster response efforts.

In the Hawaiian Electric Company's update today, they noted that the heavily damaged portions of Hawaiʻi Island will take at least 2 weeks to come back on line. Then they listed the areas where most of the outages are located, they named all 9 of the districts on the island. Essentially, they are saying the entire island has problems! (Which I actually think is true. They should just say there are widespread outages across the entire island.)  

 

My favorite Mexican restaurant in Kona area is Patricio's Mexican Taqueria; they are raising money for the people of Ka'ū. I plan on stopping after the Leeward Planning Commission meeting tomorrow & buying something from them for dinner.

Kaʻū has been hit pretty hard. It is the southernmost district & the one that took the brunt of the hit from Hurricane Lālā. Kai & I drove through the area back in July after we left Volcanoes National Park; he had never seen the south part of the island. I'm glad he got to see it before the hurricane hit, although he did not get to experience eating at the Punaluʻu Bake Shop (southernmost bakery in the US) or mailing something from the Nāʻālehu Post Office (southernmost post office in the US). He did, however, get to gas up the car at the southernmost gas station in the US!

According to the Central Pacific Hurricane Center, there is a low pressure area to the east-southeast of us that has a 90% chance of becoming a tropical depression within the next 7 days. It is moving westerly at 10 to 15 mph & is expected to enter the Central Pacific basin within days. We will have to keep an eye on that.

In the meanwhile, Hurricane Lālā & its 120 mph sustained winds continues to move northwesterly at about 9 mph. Portions of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument are either under a hurricane warning or tropical storm warning.

The next episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is anticipated to begin some time between the 21st & the 27th.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Jacque! 

The Kohala Center

Note: This post was started on 08/18 but posted after Spectrum came back on line on 08/20. 

I texted with Libby this morning, to see if she needed a ride to her workplace at The Kohala Center in Waimea. She did not, her landlady Elizabeth needed to go to Waimea so was taking her in. She did sort of need a ride home, though. Her co-worker Brian said he would give her a ride home, but he lives in Waikoloa Village which is in the opposite direction. I volunteered to give her a ride back home in exchange for use of their internet. I also took them about 10 pounds of tangerines! They are so nice there! There was another community volunteer also borrowing their internet!

When I woke up this morning, the 1st thing I did was check if the power went out overnight. It did not! that meant the battery was able to provide power to the refrigerator, router, & server on what little it was able to store up during the day yesterday. Hūlō! Good to know!

Its on & not blinking! That means power did not go out last night!

I decided to see if I could go to Waimea via the Kohala Mountain Road. I got about 2 miles up the road to the intersection with Hāwī Road & found it was closed. For good reason, too. Both roads were blocked by a tangle of poles & wires! I turned around & used the coast road instead.  

Going towards Waimea on Kohala Mountain Road. Hāwī Road is to right.

Upper end of Hāwī Road. Kohala Mountain Road is to left.

I have to pass Lapakahi when I drive the coast road to get to Waimea; the tree trimmers were there working on the trees by the gate so I decided to stop & check in with Denali whom Dane said was there today. With the background noise of the chipper going, the tree trimmer probably misheard me & thought I was asking about Charlie who was overseeing the work while Denali was busy at another park; I did not know that until later. The tree trimmer pointed to Charlie & Brad who were just returning. Brad was on his way back to the Hapuna base yard where he said there was a lot of damage from trees going down; they had gone to pick up a small front end loader to help with the clean up. 

 

As I left Lapakahi there was an ambulance going in the other direction. It is nice to see all the cars pull over quickly to let it pass. I have found drivers in rural areas tend to comply more promptly than in more urban areas. I wonder if it is because there might be a higher chance that we might know the person in the ambulance since our population is so small?

As I passed through Kawaihae I stopped at Seabird Coffee, one of Kai's favorite stops. Seabird is in a strategic location; it is about 11 miles from the closest coffee place in Waimea, about 18 miles from the place in Hāwī,  & about 32 miles from the one outside of Kona. That may be one of the reasons Kai likes it; it is an oasis in a coffee desert Fortunately, they did not suffer any damage.

Seabird is fine, but vending machine on adjacent property got knocked over.

By 3 pm Libby was out of spoons & ready to go home. We had an uneventful ride home, which was refreshing. Don't need any more action packed days of figuring out what to do because there is no power, internet, phone, or water! It takes a lot for me to run out of spoons; I think that has only happened to me a handful of times in my life. Mainly when I was married! 

When I returned home, Sam & another guy were working on Jessie's house. But they weren't helping with the garage roof. Apparently a truck going by with tree parts snagged her phone line & dragged it down. They were reinstalling it. 

Got an email from one of the Neighborhood Security Watch people I walk with in Honolulu, Happy Days, the dim sum restaurant we went to in July had a ceiling collapse! Several diners were hurt. I have also attached a 2 minute news video reporting on the collapse.

I need to figure out when is the end of the "hurricane comfort snacks" phase. Initially, I was thinking it would be the day of the hurricane. But with the power & the internet (& the phone for a short while) being out, it is seeming like a longer time period would be appropriate. For some people. But not me. I've got stuff to do! So no sitting around feeling sorry for myself & just eating junk food! OK, I'm done with the hurricane comfort snacks. Back to work on the anything-but-boiled-foods plan! (Except as recently noted!)

The Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense issued their afternoon update on services.

In Hawaiian Electric Company's update today, it is interesting that they don't mention how bad things are in Kaʻū.

The Department of Water Supply is still dealing with low water levels due to lack of electricity to pump water into reservoirs & holding tanks.

Today was the 1st day I have seen an announcement from Hawaiʻi Gas. In rural areas like where I live, we have large storage tanks on site; I have a 200 gallon tank that is currently about 70% full.  

Looks like most of the libraries will be opening up tomorrow except for those that were hit especially hard in the southern part of Hawaiʻi Island.

The Kohala Food Hub, which runs the Community Supported Agriculture subscriptions that I belong to is doing a cool thing. They are hosting a "Pay What You Can" pop-up farmers market tomorrow.

Still no internet, so no Lingopie; but still able to do Duolingo! Today they said I would be practicing "weak skills". But I kinda aced all the things they had me practicing. I guess they are not weak skills any more?

Perfect!

This one too!

This is pronounced same in Mandarin as in Japanese! 

Another easy one. 

And I got all the flash cards correct! Easy!

The National Hurricane Center show 2 storm systems in the Central Pacific region. Lālā is still here &, as of 5 pm, there is an area to the east-southeast which has a 90% chance of developing in to a tropical depression within the next 7 days.

At 2 pm today Lālā's maximum sustained winds began increasing. By 4 pm they were up to 125 mph, making Lālā a Category 3 Hurricane! Glad it waited till it was well past us before it got stronger! There are very few people & structures in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands because it is a wildlife refuge. Other storms that have caused some seabird & sea turtle nesting areas to be nearly wiped out as storm surge washes over the atolls. We shall just have to wait & see what happens, especially since it is expected to get even stronger! 

The next episode of the eruption at Kīlauea is still expected to start some time between the 21st & the 27th.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Dustin, Ron, Jeannine, Beth, & Hazuki! 

Karl & Katherine to the Rescue!

Note: This post was started on 08/17 but posted after Spectrum came back on line on 08/20. 

The readings for the projects to be reviewed by the Leeward Planning Commission on Thursday started coming in last Thursday. But I had other things to do like prep for the incoming storm so I only did a brief look to see how troublesome any of them might be & put it aside for "later". I started scrambling this morning to find someone who had both power & internet & that would allow me to drop in & finish my readings! It took an hour or so & I got a response from Karl; he was busy repairing a damaged roof on their rental yurt but he had his wife Katherine call & give me directions down to their house. I am glad they have Royal Palms lining their driveway; they made it much easier to figure out which house was theirs!

 

I spent the afternoon at their house finishing the readings; they are totally off grid with everything powered by solar panels & they have Starlink. They are such great hosts; Katherine had me join them for lunch when I arrived. Just before I left she rewarded all of us with ice cream for getting through a challenging day! FYI I serve on several of North Kohala's Community Development Plan subcommittees with Karl & Katherine is an artist at the Art Co-op where I go to most of the monthly openings to support the artists.

Mahalo nui loa e Karl & Katherine for letting my use your internet to review these projects!

When I was on my way in to Karl & Katherine's I passed a large tree that had fallen across the road totally blocking it. Karl & several neighbors had been working on it in the morning when a county crew came by with very large saws, a front end loader, & a dump truck to cut things up & haul it away! He said he & the neighbors would have had a difficult time removing the tree since its girth was larger than the bars on their chainsaws. 

Verizon came back on line about 1:30 this morning; the buzzing woke me up! Hooray for Verizon! Now if only Spectrum would come back online, too! Later I called the Department of Water Supply to report that the chlorinator shed had collapsed & asked if it was safe to drink the water. A tech called back a short while later & said they had checked it out & everything was working so no need boil water. Yay!

Yes, I have my phone language set to ʻOlelo Hawaiʻi whenever possible.

Now I have to deal with these 23 texts!

In the morning I had met up with Arlene at Fran's house. Many people are driving to friends' houses to check on them & find out what is happening. They were trying to figure out who had power so they could charge their phones; I told them the Powerwall had kept the power on overnight & could probably charge their phones since it was a lot sunnier today than it was yesterday. Later Fran called & came over right around dusk after I had returned home. Arlene stayed at home where her brother Wayne came by with battery packs that he charged up at his house in Hilo before coming back to the family house to help out his sisters Joy & Arlene.

Fran & Arlene.

Spencer called as I was leaving Karl & Katherine's, I gave him another ride to Takata's. He was looking for something to heat up food with, like Sterno. I told him they could come over to the house since my gas stove was working; I just needed to light it with an outside source since the piezoelectric starter was out because the power was out. But he decided to try the Sterno instead. Since I did not hear from them later in the evening it appears they were satisfied with using the Sterno to heat up their food. Personally, I would have used my MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe camp stove which I had also offered to let him use. It is part of my hurricane survival kit. 

Today Duolingo introduced me to a very important word I need to learn, "spicy". So I know what to avoid when I am eating my way through China! I am a hot food wimp! 

The Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense sent an alert notifying people that the 911 emergency number was not working. They recommended people call the non-emergency number from a landline or to go to the nearest fire station. Later they sent a recap of what is happening with various serviced today.

The Hawaiian Electric Company sent out its own announcements. Interestingly, the number of people without power increased in the 7&1/2 hours between announcements. They also noted that Kohala experienced wind gusts of up to 91 mph! No wonder those trees went down!  

The Department of Water Supply announcement identified the locations of where they have deployed temporary water tankers to provide residents with potable water. Some areas are not as fortunate as we are where our water is gravity-flow & all we need to do is not waste it so we can continue to have water while the power is out. The tank that supplies our house is just up the road around the curve; I use it as a landmark when I describe how to get to my house. If you pass the big green water tank, you have gone too far! 

The State Public Library system also issued a statement. As expected, all libraries on our island are closed. Libraries on the other islands are apparently closed today for assessment & likely open tomorrow. 

The Office of Hawaiian Affairs has approved an emergency assistance fund for Native Hawaiians. Hawaiʻi Island has the largest percentage of Native Hawaiians with the hard hit Kaʻū area being about 35% Native Hawaiians.

I am glad to see that the Community Supported Agriculture subscription I have for fresh fruits & vegetables will be happening this week. Our local farmers need to have income to help repair damages. 

Tropical Storm Lālā is still close by. It currently has sustained winds of 65 mph. It is headed westerly at about 10 mph but is expected to turn & begin heading west-northwesterly in a few days when it is also expected to increase in strength & become a hurricane again by late tomorrow as it approaches the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

The next episode of the eruption of Kīlauea is expected to begin some time between the 21st & the 27th.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Billy Boy & DeAndre!