On the other hand, the island of Hawai'i has been blessed with a great mayor. Harry Kim was the former director of Civil Defense here. In that capacity he was recognized as one of the best in the world. He was elected as mayor of the County of Hawai'i (the whole island) in a campaign where he did no advertising and refused to take any contributions of more than $10.
He won in a landslide because people trust him. The civil defense network he established here is second to none. Within minutes of the earthquake, everyone associated with governmental services here were at work and on the job. No one had to call anyone to come to work - they all showed up. Harry Kim declared the island a disaster area within the first hour and all cruise ships were immediately contacted and told not to pull into Hilo or Kona but to go on to their next destination. No tourists came ashore on Sunday or Monday. The Norwegian Cruise Lines "Spirit of Hawaii" docked in Hilo today and some 2000 tourists were back in town and on tours to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park or going shopping at Hilo Hattie's. It is as normal as can be.
Bottom line...as you watch the news, consider the source, where it's coming from, and the circumstances under which it is produced. Understand that most of the "officials" who give out governmental information don't know much at all. Their primary abilities involve moving their mouths; they can't seem to move anything else. The only time they have ever picked up a shovel is at a ceremonial ground-breaking. I wish some of them would come over and help move rocks off the highway or help rebuild the stone walls.
We're all OK...thankfully no one was killed and there were very few injuries. As a sidebar to this, last night a severe storm went over Maui and Hawai'i. We had thunder and lightning like you wouldn't believe. Here in Hilo the lightning was constant for hours, but no rain. However, some parts of the island were deluged, getting 5-6" of rain per hour. The Hawaiian belief is that this is all part of the dynamic cycle of life. And balance in nature must prevail - a violent action in the earth must be balanced by an equally violent action in the sky. While it is exciting and it gets your blood flowing, it is not considered unusual but perfectly normal and expected. Today is beautiful. Unfortunately, the librarian/archivist at the Volcano Observatory had her house flooded last night. One can never tell what is going to happen. It's just part of life.
Muncel Chang is a geographer who lives in Hawai'i. He is a regular contributor to Geography at About.com. For additional writings by Muncel, follow the links on the right-hand side of the page.
