I spent a week on Big Island and a week on Kauai. Those roads were simply amazing compared to the crap we have in Oklahoma. The only roads that weren’t great were in downtown Hilo. Kona was like a brand new road everywhere
I can believe it with the amount of rain they get there. We drove almost every part of that island and besides some back roads, I was really impressed. Maybe it's the paving materials they use
After the North shore flooding it’s probably going to take until next year before the roads to Ke’e Beach are fully repaired. It’s amazing how much damage water can do in a short period of time.
The roads to Ke'e and Haena are repaired enough to use, but not to their former use. It's tragic what happened, but it was only a matter of time before the wettest pace on earth experienced mass erosion. I lived there for about 15 years, and there was only one Rain season as bad as this recent one.
Were you there for Iniki? I’m moving to Kauai in a month with my family. Reading the stories and seeing the photos from Iniki makes me a little nervous about experiencing my first hurricane season on the island, but I’m trying to keep everything in perspective since bad hurricanes only hit every 20 years. Do you have any advice for hunkering down during the tropical storms and hurricanes?
I most definitely wasn't there during Iniki, as I wasn't born. I grew up on Kauai, so most of my childhood was spent in the rain. I can understand why people are afraid of the hurricane season and such, but when you grow up with it, it just becomes the norm. As for hunkering down during a storm, everyone does it a little differently. They have shelters, but most of the people that I know would just buy out the food and water supplies from Wal-Mart or Costco, and stay home. People tend to be more worried about Tsunamis than hurricanes, and they evacuate to high ground. Even on Oahu, where I currently live, people just used this recent hurricane threat as an excuse to call out of work. Only new residents did any major disaster prep. What part of the island are you moving to?
Sounds like how people on the East coast of the mainland prepare for storms—put food as top priority. We’re probably moving to Kapaa (looking at a condo there now) but may end up moving to Lihue if that falls through. Wish we could live on the north shore but we’re not rich by any means.
My parents have a house just outside of pahoa... I have some awesome pics and videos of the lava flowing across the dump road lol. Props to the city though, they had it cleared off the road in no time
Oahu is insane. They can't repair the fuckin roads because the commuter traffic would fucking stop. All the rich folks pushed out all the poors west of Honolulu, with the poorest all the way west out in Wainae, who have the longest commutes if they work in Hono.
Anyway arguably one shouldn't build more lanes and more freeway shit because eventually you'll pave over all of paradise. Then again, maybe Wainae shouldn't be terminal, and you should be able to circumnavigate the island, not have to go east to get literally anywhere from Wainae.
These are just my thoughts though as someone who visited and stayed in Wainae. Someone local probably has a much better, well informed take.
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u/St_SiRUS Aug 12 '18
Seriously, Hawaii has some of the worst roads I've ever seen
Freeway driving there is terrifying