Sounds like USNS Mercy might be an asset in this situation, especially as the patients need airlifting to Oahu which then closes down an ER/ICU for Honolulu.
I’m on the west side of one of the main islands and it’s been brutal hot and windy for days.
Most of Hawaii is at incredibly high risk for fire, both urban conflagration and intense wildfire. The west side dry areas are a tinder box of invasive grasses and haole koa. The housing stock is termite bitten, ancient single wall, with open vents, and most people having tons of crap stored around their houses.
If fire got into a west side community like Nanakuli or Maili, it could be upwards of a 90% loss. Once fire gets into a neighborhood, the structures act as fuels, as well as any combustibles stored around the structure. It doesn’t help that most Hawaiian homes are on stilts increasing airflow.
Building on stilts, good for flooding, bad for fire. Pretty crappy trade off.
Though, if the stilts were concrete with 2-4hr fire resistant undersides this might help the fire “pass underneath” the house and not “climb up” the concrete stilts. It would also provide some time to evacuate in the event of failure.
hawaiinewsnow.com
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