Another Kauai moment

Isn't this a lovely shot? It is a morning Sunrise in Kauai. We'd wake up every single morning before dawn (probably because we were still on East Coast Time). I'd make some Kona coffee & we'd both sit outside on the lanai & watch as the skies would turn pink & mauve. Chris got a brand new Sony camera that takes panorama pictures. On this morning, while I was getting ready for a early morning excursion, he walked down to the beach on the resort property and got this beautiful morning picture. Every morning was a surprise in explosive colors and got our blood humming and wanting us to get out and explore.

Along with the colorful Sunrise each morning, we were also awaken by the crowing of the many roosters all over the island. They were every where! Chickens on the beach, chickens along the side of the road, chickens at the top of the mountains. When we took a boat ride up the Napoli coast, Captain Bernard asked if we'd all take at least 10 home with us. So we were wondering what was it with the chickens. Was it some Hawaiian thing we didn't understand? Nope, here is the answer. Hurricane Iniki hit the south of the island on September 11th, 1992:

Hurricane Iniki made landfall on the south-central portion of Kauaʻi island, bringing its dangerous inner core to the entire island.^[1] Upon making landfall the hurricane produced storm tides of 4.5–6 feet (1.4–1.8 m), with some portions of the coastlines having high water marks of up to 18 feet (5.5 m). In addition, strong waves of up to 35 feet (10.5 m) in height crashed along the southern coastline for several hours, causing a debris line of more than 800 feet (250 m) inland. Because it moved quickly through the island, there were no reports of significant rainfall.^[3]

Hurricane Iniki making landfall on Kauaʻi

Hurricane Iniki's making landfall during daylight hours, combined with the popularity of camcorders, led many Kauaʻi residents to record much of the damage as it was occurring. The footage was later used to create an hour-long video documentary.^[5]

Wind damage to trees from Iniki

Hurricane Iniki's high winds caused extensive damage in Kauaʻi. 1,421 houses were completely destroyed, and 63 were lost from the storm surge and wave action. 5,152 homes were severely damaged, while 7,178 received minor damage.^[1] On the south coast, hotels and condominiums received severe damage as well. A few were restored quickly, though some took several years to be rebuilt. One hotel—the Coco Palms Resort famous for Elvis Presley's Blue Hawaii—never reopened after the hurricane.^[6] Destroyed housing across the island left more than 7,000 people homeless after the storm's passage.^[7]

Sidewalk and tree damage from Iniki

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.^[7] Electric companies restored only 20% of the island's power service within four weeks of Iniki, while other areas were without power for up to three months. Also affected by the storm was the agricultural sector.^[1] Though much of the sugar cane was already harvested,^[7] what was left was severely damaged. The winds destroyed tender tropical plants like bananas and papayas and uprooted or damaged fruit and nut trees.^[1]

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Because of Iniki, chicken coops all over the island were knocked down & the chickens had not been recaptured. Therefore, they went out and populated the whole island with wild chickens. So chickens abound every where & you could hear the roaster all the time screaming out. We'd read about people complaining that they couldn't sleep because of these roosters, but didn't bother us as we were up before they were. I guess this once it was helpful to still be on Ohio time. But they were interesting to watch as I'd never see wild chickens before. Some were very aggressive if you even walked near them. They did know how to keep out of the way of cars! Or maybe drivers were just afraid of them!