What would happen if Hurricane Iniki hit O‘ahu?
Hurricane season starts Thursday 01 June, and forecasters at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center expect more storms than normal.
This year also marks the 25th anniversary of Iniki, Hawai‘i’s most destructive hurricane.
As people prepare for this hurricane season, we show what would happen if a category 4 hurricane hit O‘ahu.
When Hurricane Iniki roared ashore in September of 1992 it caused six deaths and $2 billion in damage.
But things could have been a lot worse if Iniki had shifted slightly to the right before landfall.
“The worst place for an Iniki-type storm to make landfall is in Ewa. It would place Honolulu and Waikīkī in the forward right quadrant, where you’d get the maximum winds and maximum storm surge,” said Dr. Chip Fletcher, professor of Geology and Geophysics and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of SOEST.
Adding the forward motion of the hurricane to the powerful winds creates even more destruction in the front right quadrant of a storm.
Read more about it and watch the video report at KITV4.