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report. First, there is a misperception that the island of Kauai is most susceptible to <br />hurricanes because it has been hit directly by Hurricanes Iniki in 1992 and Iwa in <br />1982. Figure 2-1, from the Oahu Civil Defense Agency displays relative hurricane <br />risk for the Hawaiian Islands. Most of the hurricanes are formed in the east Pacific <br />and travel west before curving north to threaten the Hawaiian Islands. Given the <br />origin of these systems is in the east Pacific, the island of Hawaii, being closer to the <br />source is just at high a risk of being hit as Kauai, if not more. <br />Figure 2-1 - Relative Hurricane Risk for the Hawaiian Islands – Contours show the number of <br />times a hurricane passes within 75 nautical miles every ten years (Oahu Civil Defense Agency, <br />2003). Contours show the risk is greatest for Hawaii County, while Maui and Oahu have slightly <br />greater risk than Kauai. <br />example of the typical track for hurricanes in the <br /> Hurricane Estelle is a good <br />Pacific. On July 22, 1986, the eye of Estelle passed over 100 miles south of Hawaii <br />County (see Figure 2-2). In addition to the high spring tide, high waves generated <br />from Estelle, crashed on the shores of the Big Island. There is no reason, from <br />Figures 2-1 and 2-2 that Kauai would be more susceptible to hurricanes than Hawaii <br />County. <br />11 <br /> <br />