7-Mph Iniki Slams Into Hawaii -- Hurricane Cuts Off All Power On Kauai Island

LIHUE, Hawaii - Hurricane Iniki dealt a direct blow to Kauai Island yesterday with winds gusting to 160 mph and torrential rain. Twenty-foot-high waves crashed over coastal highways, and the island lost all power and telephone service even before the worst of the storm hit.

It was the most powerful hurricane in the Hawaiian islands this century, said Bob Sheets, director of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, Fla. He said Iniki was about as strong as devastating Hurricane Andrew.

Hurricane Iniki's fiercest winds covered all of Kauai, said Saul Price, a National Weather Service forecaster in Honolulu. The island is roughly circular and 30 miles across and has a population of more than 50,000. The extent of damage couldn't be determined immediately.

Oahu, the state's most populated island with 800,000 people, is separated from Kauai by an 80-mile-wide channel and was spared the brunt of the storm. But a 10-to-20-foot surf pounded Oahu's southern coast, heavy rain fell, power lines were blown down and roofs to some houses were damaged.

Iniki had sustained wind to 130 mph and gusts to 160 mph as it passed over Kauai, the weather service said. That was down from 145 mph sustained wind and 175 mph gusts earlier yesterday.

Kauai Mayor JoAnn Yukimura was talking with Gov. John Waihee by two-way radio as the storm swept over the island. She reported that the roof of the state office building in Lihue was torn off and windows of the county building were blown out, said Waihee's press secretary, Carolyn Tanaka.

Yukimura said wind was exceeding 100 mph and debris was blowing everywhere, but she didn't know how extensive the damage was, Tanaka said. Then communications with Yukimura were lost.

Wilcox Hospital, the largest on Kauai, reported by radio after the storm had slackened that it had not had any storm-related injuries, Civil Defense spokeswoman Barbara Hendrie said.

Hendrie said the Army was preparing to fly a mobile tactical satellite unit to Kauai to establish better communication with island officials.

The eye of the fast-moving hurricane passed over Kauai starting about 7 p.m., Seattle time, said Andy Chun, lead forecaster at the weather service in Honolulu. An hour later the eye was reported to be about 50 miles north of Kauai, back over the North Pacific.

Chun said the eye of Iniki passed over the western part of Kauai, where there are many sugar cane plantations. Most of the island's resorts and other development are concentrated on the easternmost part of Kauai, where Lihue, the largest city, is located.

Torrential rain fell on Kauai and Niihau, an island 25 miles to the west that is populated by about 300 native Hawaiians.

Before the worst of the hurricane struck, streets of Lihue were virtually deserted as intensifying winds bent palm trees sideways and rocked parked cars. Heavy rains drenched the area.

The weather service said the island lost all electricity at 1:20 p.m. All phone links to the island were lost by 3 p.m., Hawaiian Telephone Co. said.

On Oahu, 44,000 of the 250,000 customers were without electrical service at 3 p.m., said Hawaiian Electric Co. spokesman Chuck Freedman.

Earlier, as Iniki approached, Civil Defense sirens sounded before dawn, rousing residents and tourists throughout Oahu and Kauai.

Seattle dentist Terry Allen lost telephone contact with his wife and two daughters as they prepared for the storm in the family's second home on Kauai.

Allen said his wife, Marilyn, told him yesterday afternoon that she had thrown their lawn furniture into the swimming pool so it would not blow around and was taping blankets over the windows of their home.

"She said parts of trees were blowing off and the windows were already starting to bulge" from 50 to 70 mph winds, said Allen, who divides his dental practice between West Seattle and Kauai.

The Allens live about a mile from the ocean, 500 feet above sea level, in Kalaheo, a residential community about the size of Sequim about eight miles west of Poipu Beach, a popular tourist destination.

Allen said his wife and daughers Jessica, 13, and Julia, 7, planned to seek protection from the worst of the storm inside the family car in their garage.

"If the roof caves in, at least the car should protect them," he said.

Allen said one of the family's two horses ran away early yesterday after high winds and heavy rains pelted the island. He said his wife tied their other horse to the back of their car and led it to a neighboring fenced valley with lots of open space.

Mike Hill, a former Washington resident who now manages the Poipu Kapili Condos, said the waves pounding the beach outside his Kauai condominium were 25 feet high.

They are landing with enough force, "that you can feel the whole earth rumble," said Hill.

The Poipu Kapili Condos is a 60-unit facility on the south shore of Kauai.

From a second-floor vantage point 300 feet from the beach, Hill said the winds had turned the Pacific into an ocean of white caps. "The whole ocean is a cloud of white water," he said.

"Kauai has been struggling with the recession, this (heavy hurricane damage) would be devastating to the island of Kauai," he added.

"If we take a direct hit like we did in 1982 (Hurricane Iwa) we're going to be a year recovering," Hill said.

"The grocery stores were packed at 5 o'clock this morning," said Steve Heard of Honolulu. "People were panicking and trying to get in and out, and the lines were hellacious to get gas, the lines were hellacious going through the checkout stands at the grocery stores."

People stocked up on bottled water, batteries, candles, masking tape, food and other provisions, some of which quickly ran out. Vehicles were lined up by the score outside gasoline stations. Businesses were closed, and usually jammed freeways flowed smoothly during the rush hour.

Yukimura, Kauai's mayor, ordered people along the island's coast to move inland. Homes in western Oahu, including shoreline and low-lying areas of Honolulu, also were ordered evacuated.

The Red Cross opened 41 shelters on Oahu and Kauai, and volunteer staff were being flown in from California.

Some people on Kauai, meanwhile, flew out of the worst danger zone.

Navy ships at Pearl Harbor were sent to sea to ride out the storm.

The storm developed to the south early in the week and was expected to move northwest parallel to the island chain before it changed course late Thursday, aiming directly at Kauai.

Times staff reporters Rich Buck and Dave Birkland contributed to this report.