FEMA, State Sign Hurricane Plan

As Hurricane Hilda presents the possibility of a tropical cyclone impacting the states, the 2015 Hawai’i Catastrophic Hurricane Plan was signed. On Friday, Governor David Ige and Karen Ames, the Acting Regional Administrator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, signed the plan.

“The Catastrophic Hurricane Plan provides strategies for joint state and federal actions before, during, and after a catastrophic event,” explained Doug Mayne, Administrator of Emergency Management. “The two-year planning process we underwent places us in a great position to collaborate with our federal partners, state and county agencies, non-profits, the private sector and local communities to ensure we minimize suffering from the impact of a catastrophic hurricane.”

Coordination efforts have been put into effect by HI-EMA, with the National Weather Service and Emergency Management Agency as partners. Hurricane Hilda, as of a NWS brief Friday afternoon, was a Category 1 hurricane about 1,200 miles east-southeast of Hilo.

The Big Island has a 5 percent chance in seeing tropical storm force winds on Wednesday.