Hurricane Iniki Totally Explained

Everything about Hurricane Iniki totally explained

Hurricane Iniki (pronounced [iniki]) (Hawaiian for strong and piercing wind) was the most powerful hurricane to strike the U.S. state of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Islands in recorded history. Forming during the strong El Niño of 1991–1994, Iniki was one of eleven Central Pacific tropical cyclones during the 1992 season. The eye of Hurricane Iniki passed directly over the island of Kauai on September 11 1992, as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. It was the first hurricane to hit the state since Hurricane Iwa in the 1982 season, and the first major hurricane since Hurricane Dot in 1959.
Iniki caused around $1.8 billion (1992 US dollars) in damage and six deaths. At the time, Iniki was among the costliest United States hurricanes, and it remains one of the costliest hurricanes on record in the eastern Pacific. The storm struck just weeks after Hurricane Andrew—the costliest tropical cyclone ever at the time—struck the U.S. state of Florida.
Because of well-deployed warnings, Iniki caused only six deaths. Damage was greatest on Kauai, where the hurricane destroyed over 1,400 houses and severely damaged over 5,000. Though not directly in the path, Oahu still experienced moderate damage from storm surge.

Storm history

The origin of Iniki is unclear, but it possibly began as a tropical wave that exited the African coast on August 18. It moved westward across the unfavorable Atlantic Ocean and crossed Central America into the Pacific on the 28th. The wave continued rapidly westward and remained disorganized. Conditions slowly became more favorable, and, as the convection concentrated around a center, the wave was classified Tropical Depression Eighteen-E on September 5, located 1700 miles (2700 km) southwest of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico or 1550 miles (2500 km) east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. The depression continued quickly westward and remained weak until the 8th, when it slowed enough to strengthen to a tropical storm.
Located at the southern periphery of a subtropical ridge, Iniki continued westward and strengthened over the unusually favorable central Pacific; it reached hurricane status on September 9 while 470 miles (760 km) south-southeast of Hilo. The subtropical ridge, which typically keeps hurricanes well away from the Hawaiian Islands, weakened due to an approaching upper level-trough and allowed Iniki to turn to the northwest. With very favorable upper-level outflow and warm water temperatures, Iniki steadily intensified, and attained major hurricane status on September 10 while south-southwest of the island chain.
The CPHC issued a tropical storm warning for Oahu on September 11 which was upgraded to a hurricane warning later that day. Most damage was on the island of Kauai, where the storm destroyed thousands of homes and left a large amount of the island without power, although Oahu also suffered significant damage. Iniki also was responsible for 6 deaths.

Kauai

Hurricane Iniki made landfall on the south-central portion of Kauai island, bringing its dangerous inner core to the entire island. Destroyed housing across the island left more than 7,000 people homeless after the storm's passage. Iniki's Category 4 winds also downed 26.5% of the island's transmission poles, 37% of its distribution poles, and 35% of its 800 mile (1300 km) distribution wire system. The entire island lacked electricity and television service for an extended period of time.
The U.S. Coast Guard station at Nawiliwili Harbor was hard hit by the storm, fatally damaging the service's cutter stationed there. The Coast Guard promptly established a humanitarian response detachment, commanded by Lt. Kenneth Armstrong, which helped to provide medical supplies, food, ice, water, and cash grants to island residents, as well as making temporary repairs to public buildings. Under Armstrong's command, the port was recertified to receive gasoline and diesel fuel, which helped to relieve a major fuel shortage caused by the widespread use of personal electrical generators. A larger DoD contingent, nicknamed "Operation Garden Sweep," provided large scale relief in the form of tent cities, utility repairs, road clearings, and major medical operations.

Oahu

Upon passing by Oahu, Iniki produced tides of 1.7–3 feet (0.5–0.9 m) above normal. In all, Hurricane Iniki caused several million dollars in property damage, Amateur radio proved to be extremely helpful during the three weeks after the storm, with volunteers coming from the neighboring islands as well from around the Pacific to assist in the recovery. There was support of local government communications in Lihue in the first week of recovery
   In the months after the storm, many insurance companies left Hawaii. To combat this, State Governor John D. Waihee III enacted the Hurricane Relief Fund in 1993 to help unprotected Hawaii residents. The fund was never needed for another Hawaii hurricane, and it was stopped in 2000 when insurance companies returned to the island.
   Folk legend states that Hurricane Iniki blew apart many chicken coops, some possibly used to house fighting chickens; this caused a dramatic increase in the numbers of wild chickens roaming Kauai.
   The name Iniki was retired due to this storm in 1993, and was replaced with Iolana in the Central North Pacific tropical storm list. Since that list is rotated through regardless of year, Iolana hasn't been used for any storm and isn't likely to be used for decades due to the relative rarity of storm formation in the Central Pacific.

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