No One Will Ever Forget The Most Powerful Hurricane In Hawaii History
By Megan Shute|Published October 04, 2020
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
Though the Hawaiian Islands may be immune to select natural disasters — namely blizzards and tornadoes — we still battle threats of hurricanes, tsunamis, and even volcanic eruptions on a regular basis. And while several of these natural disasters have caused extensive damage to the islands, no one will ever forget the deadliest storm ever to hit Hawaii: Hurricane Iniki.
A category four hurricane born from El Nino, Hurricane Iniki traveled on a west-northwest course, continuing to strengthen along the way. The eye of the storm passed directly over the island of Kauai on September 11, 1992, and caused massive destruction.
Despite the fact that warning systems were set in place, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center failed to issue tropical cyclone watches and warnings 24 hours in advance and Kauai simply wasn’t prepared for the amount of damage Iniki would cause.
Winds reached speeds of up to 145 miles per hour. In addition to the obvious damage, the powerful storm defoliated and knocked down countless trees and shrubs, and even contributed to the erosion of Kauai’s beautiful beaches.
The island of Oahu also experienced moderate damage from the hurricane.
In addition to being the strongest hurricane to hit the Aloha State, Iniki is also the third costliest hurricane to hit the East/Central Pacific region.
The two costliest hurricanes were 1982’s Hurricane Paul, which killed 1,696 people in Central America, and Hurricane Manuel, the 2013 storm that devastated Mexico, causing more than $4.2 billion in damages.
Iniki knocked out power for most of the island for nearly six weeks, and communities held parties to consume the perishable foods they had in their homes at the time the storm struck.
In fact, a group of Army Corps of Engineers that had experienced massive looting during Hurricane Andrew on the eastern coast just weeks before was shocked by the lack of violence and overall calmness on the island. I guess that’s just the Aloha way.
