Is That All There Is To A Hurricane?

Wow. Maybe I'm jaded from having experienced hurricanes in Florida, but Hurricane Douglas was kind of a dud.

As previously noted, Keith and Zach and I removed the tarps from the closet and porch tents, carried everything that had been out there into our cabin, and hunkered down waiting for the hurricane to hit.

But the night was quiet, with neither rain nor wind, until about 8 AM, which was exactly when the weather forecasters predicted we would start to experience the hurricane. Also, previously it had looked like Douglas would score a direct hit on the Islands; but during the night it made a slight change of course and so passed to the North of Maui, instead of hitting it square on.

The wind hit first, though to be honest we had worse gusts back in April.

And that was it! We got a lot of rain but not as much as during one of the April storms; and not much wind at all, which I attribute to our location to the west of a flank of Haleakala.

By noon or so, it was over. Keith and I returned the roof and wall tarps to our porch.

After checking for mail (there was none), we continued on to Zach's favorite local surfing spot, Koki Beach. There were a few really big waves, and a sign warning of dangerous rip tides, Nevertheless, one person was surfing there.

Nearby Hamoa beach, which is generally calm, was a little more active.

Hana Bay Beach Park was blocked off, presumably in case the storm had been as bad as it might have been. It looked calm enough from the road, though.

In any case, our first Hawaii hurricane—which might well be the last one we ever experience, since they are so rare—turn out to be a dud, for us—which is a good thing! I just hope the rest of the islands, and Texas with a hurricane of its own, make out as well.