Our
Interview with Mayor Maryanne Kusaka
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We
planned an interview with Kauai County's Mayor Maryanne
Kusaka to research more information on disaster
experiences and benefits, particularly because of Kauai's
history of hurricanes. Unexpectedly, we uncovered not
only some great information about Hurricane Iniki, but
also the mayor's childhood memories of an up-close and
personal experience with the disasterous tsunami of
1946.
Mayor
Kusaka was a young girl growing up in the small paradise
village of Hana, Maui. On April 1, 1946 eleven-year-old
Maryanne was getting ready for school. Out on the beach
people were startled to see a strange sight. The water
was emptying from the bay, revealing the sandy,
rock-strewn ocean floor. Maryanne and her family stood
watching from shore. Some people ran out to the exposed
area to pick up the abundant fish flopping about. No one
had seen this happen before and no one had any idea what
would happen next.
Off
against the horizon another strange sight could be seen.
A huge mound of water was rolling towards shore. It was
bigger than any wave young Maryanne could imagine.
Maryanne and her family turned in fright and ran up
toward higher ground, realizing that this enormous wave
would reach farther up the beach than the usual waves.
Others remained on the beach, mezmerized by the
spectacle. Still others had walked far out into the bay.
For these unlucky people it was too late to outrun the
gushing torrent of water. Many people, including school
teachers at Maryanne's school, lost their lives. Mayor
Kusaka recalls the messy scene left along Hana's once
beautiful shore.
Back
then there was no warning system for possible tsumani
hits. There was no help from the federal government. The
islanders were left to fend for themselves. The American
Red Cross was at least in existence by then and provided
some support.
Mayor
Kusaka was a resident of Kauai when Hurricane Iwa struck
in 1982 and when Hurricane Iniki hit in 1992. She became
mayor in 1994, two years after Iniki, and in her role as
mayor, had to deal with the still incomplete recovery of
the devastated island. Her biggest task was to deal with
three enormous stacks of hurricane debris left piled
along the roadside. Under her leadership and with the
unfailing efforts of the people of Kauai, recovery moved
ahead. All public facilities were upgraded at the cost of
$122 million. The Ho'olokahi (Hawaiian for helping each
other) Project helped organize a partnership of
volunteers and businesses to help clean up Kauai's
beaches and other public areas. Kauai's recovery plan was
so well planned and executed that the county did not have
to pay back any of the $100 million given by FEMA
(Federal Emergency Management Agency) to help meet its
disaster needs. This was indeed a very valuable benefit
for Kauai and its people.
Mayor
Kusaka remembers the days immediately following the
hurricane as a memorable experience. With neighbors
working together side by side, people got to know each
other much better. This joining together made it easier
to make the best of a bad situation.
Mayor
Kusaka is proud of how the people of Hawaii have
responded in times of disaster, saying, "In the face of
adversity we find all the strength we need to meet the
challenge."
Interview
with Mrs. Fujita, a teacher from
King
Kaumualii Elementary School.
The
day was really overcast and they looked up at the clouds.
They moved as they were going 30 miles an hour because of
the early winds. It pulled all the flowers in the yard
and blew all of the leaves off the trees. It began to
rain so hard. The rain was going into the house as if
someone was holding a hose at the window. They were
huddled up in the kitchen with a matress and all of their
safety supplies hoping their house was going to hold out.
When the electricity shut off and the phone nolonger
worked, the wind began to blow from underneath the house.
The floor was vibrating and the roof was lifting and
going back down and they knew at that momment they needed
to get out as quick as possible. With help, they ran
across the yard hardly seeing their way because of all
the strong wind and rain blowing into their faces. They
found safety nextdoor where they held onto eachother and
prayed they would all make it out. With all the sounds of
trees cracking in half, and other debris hitting the
sides of the house they heard a loud ripping sound. They
looked out the window and saw the roof of their house
peel off into 2 pieces, fly up and hit the house that
they were in. It peeled off the roof of a bathroom and
bedroom and blew open the door that gave them the view of
the storm that was outside. They managed to shut that
door and stay in the middle of the house, in between the
couch and the matress. When it was all over, it was dark
they had no electricity, no phone, no TV, and no running
water. So they turned to their hurricane supplies and
used their flashlights to see where they were going and
their generator to run the refridgerator and the coleman
stove to prepare their food. They boiled water, for baths
and they sat and listened to a portable radio for all the
weather updates and places to go for help if
needed.
In
the morning, they all went outside and found the houses
had been blown down to almost nothing. But together,
little by little, they helped eathother and their
neighbors clean up whatever belongings that they could
salvage and a day at a time, things looked brighter with
all the aloha they recieved from neighbors, friends,
family, and FEMA. There was military men cleaning up the
roads and telephone and electricity repair men working
desperately to repair poles and lines that had been blown
down. On the evening of October 12 they had electricity
and they knew that things were going to get better from
then on. Months later, all the homes had been leveled and
rebuilt and the grass began to grow around them. Once
again they had a place that they could call
home.
