Hawaii’s four county mayors reminded residents Wednesday to always be prepared for natural disasters because they can strike unexpectedly any time of the year.
At a Honolulu Hale news conference, the leaders announced a monthlong drive to urge residents to be prepared.
Oahu is the site for a project, under the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program, to determine what communications methods will most likely improve readiness.
Public service announcements on radio and television will be broadcast, advertisements placed in city buses and stores on Oahu and a website, www.GetReadyHI.org, will provide tips on emergency planning.
Residents need to be prepared year-round, the mayors said, not just for the hurricane season, which runs June 1 through Nov. 30.
Kauai usually receives the brunt of storms. In March, heavy rain flooded Kauai neighborhoods and roadways.
President Barack Obama declared a disaster in Hawaii, providing Kauai access to federal money for emergency work. Damage on the Garden Island was estimated at $2 million, including $1.2 million to roadways.
Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. said residents are taking steps to improve preparedness, including possibly using county base yards to store containers filled with goods and cots. Areas usually affected by storms on Kauai are Kekaha, Waimea and Haena.
In December 2011, Ward Research Inc. conducted a statewide phone survey involving 1,087 state residents that showed that Kauai residents appear to be better prepared for a disaster than residents on Oahu and Hawaii island.
The survey also found that three out of 10 residents say they do not store enough food and water to last seven days.
Only 25 percent of residents are fully prepared for a disaster, the survey found. A lack of urgency was a common reason with some saying they "plan to stock up when the need arises."
Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle stressed the importance of preparedness to avoid chaos at gas stations and supermarkets in the event of a natural disaster.
Maui County Mayor Alan Arakawa said government can only do so much and that residents need to do their part. It is necessary for residents to take disaster readiness seriously to prevent disarray in the community or worse when emergencies arise, he said.
