HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0456.006 2022-2024P /CRcoG
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COMMUNITY FEEDBACK ON HCCDA'S HAZARD IMPACT MAP
We wish to express our appreciation to the County for the thoughtfulness and effort that went
into development of the interactive County of Hawaii Hazard Impact Map on HCCDA's website,
and we encourage further developments as Graphical Information System (GIS) technologiesw
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and user capabilities continue to evolve. C-1)
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That map (lhttps:/%hawaii-county-civil-defense-a�,)ency-hawaiicountygis.hub arcis.com, then
clicking on Hazard Impact Map) is quite handy for serving its intended purpose of a "Public-]-
facing
Public- -facing hazard map for situational awareness and up-to-date closures". We urge the County to -.,o
keep progressing with this concept. Here's some feedback from the perspective of those of us~'
(neighborhood associations, CERTs, ham radio operators, resilience groups, on the north part of
the Big Island) who have a high interest in being situationally aware during bad events. Our
feedback relates mostly to wildfires, although a few other kinds of emergency events are
included for broader context.
From the high wind/dry air/drought situation that drove the Maui Lahaina fires in August, we
also experienced several wildfires here on the north end of this island. When clicked, the fire
icons on the GIS map that day identified the locations of those fires and gave some status, but it
arguably would have been helpful to have something that gave some sense of probable fire
direction and potential spread. The Fire Department's boots on the ground of course have a
direct sense of that, along with procedures for reacting and evacuating a projected fire path, but
still... a broader situational awareness in the affected communities would be helpful. And
currency of information is very important. A good example is the frequent updates of lava flow
maps that were published back in 2018 when Kilauea's east rift was active. There's a general
sense in our communities that two recent fires in Paauilo and one approaching Waikoloa Village
could have been better reported to the public, especially in the early hours of those events.
Possible ways to do that...
• The simplest: Add to the popup (that appears when the fire icon is clicked) current wind
speed and direction. Some easily -accessed localized information is available --
ht_t)l%w\tiw.wunder��round.com/wundermap, for example, shows several dozen personal
weather stations in the northern third of the island; entering a city and state (e.g.,
Honokaa, HI) gets you into a map for that area. Clicking on the location icon for a
weather station on that map brings up its current weather data, and you can also get a
forecast. Some concern may exist about proper instrument siting and exposure of
personal weather stations, so National Weather Service (NWS) data might be preferable.
However, for much of the north part of the island Hilo and Kona airports may not be
representative. And the only other listed official weather station (at the Bradshaw Army
Airfield on Highway 2000, which is what pops up when you plug in Honokaa or Waimea
on the NWS website search box) may not be representative either. A real-time map of the
current local windfield, with forecasts out a few days, can be accessed at
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https://,v-vw.windv.coro, by entering a city and state in the search box. Fire Department
responders at the scene may also have estimates of wind speed and direction.
• A step up in complexity: Pictures are generally understood well, and graphical
representations of problems overlaid on a map are especially informative. A good
example of this (unrelated to fires) is already on the hazard impact map - when you click
on one of NOAA's stream gauge icons, a popup identifies the gauge and its GIS
coordinates, a further click bounces you to a graph of present stream flow and flood
status. Another good example of moving GIS technology forward (although related to a
different kind of fire) is also on the hazard map - clicking on the link
Imp/hnkwc.ifa.hawaii.edu/vrnap/new/ maps out the expected coverage of VOG when
Kilauea goes active. These two examples show the potential power of a GIS framework
in conveying complex information in an easily understood visual format. University of
Hawaii folks who did the VOG modeling might be interested in developing a simulation
of fire movement that's visually informative but still pretty simple, something like this:
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fire
start
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head of
the fire
The ultimate (but as yet unattainable) solution: Of course fire movement is quite
complicated and situation -specific - the windfield is variable and so is the fuel load,
along with complex terrain, firebreak locations and any number of other factors. Based
on a Wikipedia article summarizing the state of the art of computer modeling of fire paths
(Imps "en vvil:ipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire modeling), until AI's are more evolved we should
probably do what Tony Soprano said and "fuggedaboudit". (But the first few paragraphs
of that article are worth reading because they show the complexity of modeling
wildfires.)
Related to fires, exposure to smoke is a possible hazard, especially for individuals downwind
with asthma or other challenging health conditions. This is a particularly tricky issue with
respect to what might be usefully added to a popup that appears when the icon for a fire is
clicked on the hazard impact map. However, some relatively simple advisories or warnings
would be useful, and there's plenty of information that can serve as a basis for pondering that.
Some examples are:
• The nature of wildfire smoke hazards (https://weather.com/news/news/2021-03-06-
wildfire-smoke-pollution-health-hospitalizations) and who is at risk from exposure
(https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/covid-19/wildfire smoke cm id-101imil).
• Being prepared for smoke hazards (https://www.aimow.gov/wildiii es be -smoke -read /)
and taking various protective measures (https://www.epa.i,,ov/smoke-ready-toolbox
• An EPA real-time air quality map for the north part of the Big Island shows current data
for airborne fine particulates (PM2.5) which is the typical pollutant of concern in a fire
(https://tire.airnow.go\, then enter the town + HI in the search box). There are about two
dozen reporting monitors across the north part of the Big Island.
Related to fire aftermath, a hazard impact map could show areas where water supplies have
likely been contaminated (https://www.usgs.(-�,ov/mission-areas/water-resources;science/water-
quality-after-wildfire). In a major fire with a lot of damage like Lahaina, federal resources would
be brought to bear on issues like this, so it isn't clear that HCCDA needs to get into this area.
A more general concept related to the hazard impact map is to create a parallel hazard resource
Tap with different clickable layers. One layer might be, for example, a map showing ham radio
operators active in emergency communications. Clicking a radio icon on the map would produce
a popup identifying the operator and call sign and GIS coordinates, a further click on that popup
would display equipment range, typical frequencies used, and operator capabilities - a concept
similar to the stream gauges. Another layer might specify available locations to access critical
emergency supplies like bottled drinking water.
The thoughts above are offered with appreciation and respect for what HCCDA has
accomplished to date in GIS portrayal of hazards, and with encouragement to keep exploring
GIS for applications that promote situational awareness in communities on the Big Island.
A related afterword...
Our consideration of this specific and limited subject of the GIS Hazard Impact Map inevitably
led to much broader commentary on hazard communication and community involvement in both
planning and response. Such topics have been under discussion for a few years in various
forums in various communities. Some current comments considering the recent fires are
summarized below:
• The primary issue while the Paauilo wildfires were burning was speed of access to
actionable info. Neighborhoods needed ground truth on a very short time scale to have
current real conditions in order to make quick decisions. Maps are nice from a distance
but not so useful when the fire is at your doorstep. A few unidentified (not FD, PD or
CERT) individuals were suggesting to residences that they evacuate; this sort of activity
favors chaos and argues for better central control of information. Also, folks who
gathered in several road locations reported no power, no phone, then later no cell phone
as towers got saturated with calls. Thus, they had no way to know what was going on.
Overall neighborhood connectivity to the internet was reduced except for off -grid houses
with satellite service.
• An important issue to consider is how residents become aware of fires if located in a
large geographic area with sparse population. Websites aren't a great solution if no one
knows they need to look unless smoke is already upon them. A fundamental concern is
that people somehow need to be alerted to a situation before they can even think about
looking at a GIS map. This may be more of a community endeavor than a HCCDA
function, but conceptually there is a lot of overlap. Paauilo has a siren on Highway 19
but few any distance uphill can hear it. Equipping first responders with a portable siren
that could be activated in an impacted area could provide a heads -up to the community.
• Some brief suggestions for consideration in addition to portable sirens:
--Regular communications with directly impacted organizations about how to get the
word out (community associations, CERTs, ham radio nets, school and church
leaders) about local hazards.
--Frequent emergency notification (Everbridge, Nixle) updates focused on direct path
evacuations and related concerns, with part of the message being an instruction to get
on the internet and look at the hazard impact map (and providing a clickable link in
the text message version of the notification).
--Media-trained personnel to support HCCDA and/or other agencies when emergencies
happen,
--Memoranda of understanding (MOUs) that define support to emergency responders.
--Helicopter warnings advising people to evacuate away from direct line of concern.
--Equipping communities with GMRS radios and repeaters (which don't need a ham
license) and creating very localized networks for use when all other normal
communication infrastructure is destroyed, with a protocol for outreach into existing
ham emcomm nets.
• It's clear that HCCDA can't do everything for all communities: staff is limited, a lot of
the island population is too spread out, and in some locations the terrain is difficult. Still,
in any emergency, communications that flow efficiently (both into HCCDA and from
HCCDA out to the communities) is an excellent objective, and should be pursued.
Given the Lahaina experience, what makes the most sense is for community organizations to be
actively engaged in planning for emergencies, and for HCCDA — along with Police and Fire — to
be in tune with and in collaboration with community efforts. We understand that the County is
presently looking to augment staff with a full-time position whose work will revolve solely
around the hazard impact map and other GIS functions specific to emergency alerts. We would
be happy to work with that person to provide community perspective and input, and to provide a
test bed for implementation of map features as they are developed.
All of us in the various communities up here in the north part of the Big Island deeply appreciate
the work of HCCDA and Police and Fire Departments; personnel have acted above and beyond
in many cases and have always been very open to speaking with us.
Respectfully submitted,
Joe Clarkson WH6FSD, President, Paauilo Mauka Kalopa Community Association
Denning Powell, WH6GDC, Team Lead, Paauilo CERT
Gary Miller, KH6GM, Team Lead, Laupahoehoe CERT
Ceri Sanders, AH6CS, Paauilo
Rick Bowen, AK6RK, Paauilo
Mary Schramke, WH6GXK, CERT, Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization
Bill Wiecking, KH6BI, Director, HPA Energy Lab
9/29/2023