Kauai -- Recovery And Rebirth Come A Year After The Hurricane

A year ago Hurricane Iniki roared through Kauai, Hawaii's oldest, northernmost island, devastating not only the land, but the people.

The hope for tourism was buried under the debris that scattered like confetti in a wind that peaked at 160 miles per hour on Sept. 11, 1992. People's livelihoods were destroyed overnight, along with their worldly goods. Talking to them today, it's clear that nothing is the same.

One local retiree - who moved to Kauai from California 13 years ago - was left with only one outfit of clothing. "For some reason that one outfit wrapped itself around the frame of the bed which managed to withstand the wind," she says.

The makers of this summer's top movie, "Jurassic Park" were winding up filming of the adventure on Kauai when Iniki hit.

Yet the Garden Island of Kauai is recovering. Already the redolent green of the tropics is skimming the land.

The beaches on the southern side of the island are swollen because of the massive deposits of sand during the storm. The ancient volcanic deposits, the shimmering waterfalls and the lush vegetation remain unchanged by nature's rampage.

A positive aftermath

Laola Lake, who gives facials at the Hyatt Regency at Poipu Beach, says she experienced a curious sense of liberation when the water and sea destroyed her belongings.

"I couldn't get work so I went back to school," she says.

"The first day of class everyone was asked why they were there.

Most people were there because of requirements. I was the only one there because I wanted to be."

Within a day after the hurricane, Tim Venturi - who runs his open-air restaurant in Kiahuna Village - had set up a tent and began cooking hamburgers for the water-soaked victims. He dubbed the site "The Road-Kill Grill."

Mike Young, proprietor of Surf & Sport in Kiahuna Shopping Village, entertains at Venturi's from 7 to 9 p.m. Though his shop is still struggling because of the diminished number of tourists, Young feels he's lucky to be alive.

He was a drug user who kicked the habit five years ago with the help of a heavy dose of Christianity. Now he helps spread the word for sobriety with his surfing buddies through WRAD, Wave Riders Against Drugs.

Everything on Kauai seems reborn. And, because tourism is down, it's the perfect place to find the serenity that seems to envelop the people who live there. It's not unusual for a commuter to offer you a ride to your hotel, or for a construction worker repairing the pipes in the cane field to relate his tale of the hurricane.

A casual chat in the drugstore might result in an invitation to dinner or advice on the best body-surfing beach.

Four major resorts have reopened on the island: Two in the Lihue area and two about 36 miles west in the Waimea region. On Oct. 15 the elegant Princeville Hotel is to re-open on the island's northern coast.

Massive renovations

The Hyatt Regency at Poipu Beach, about 14 miles from the airport, is back in full operation after a $30 million renovation. It features facilities for families including a water slide, special activities for the kids, golf at the Kiahuna Golf Club for a $58 cart and green fee and any kind of water sport you'd care to try.

Room rates start at $230. Rooms at the Outrigger Kauai Beach Hotel, four miles from the airport, start at $125.

Many of the condos in the area are still under repair, though there are vacation rentals, with a kitchen, for as little as $60 a night. The Poipu Plantation in Koloa - the site of Hawaii's first sugar plantation - starts at $75 for one bedroom.

Car rentals are a must from Lihue Airport, but getting around the island (it's only 33 miles wide) is simple. The major resorts are Princeville, the Royal Coconut Coast on the eastern side, Kalapaki Bay, a quarter mile south of the airport and Poipu Beach on the southern shore. Auto rentals vary with the season but range in the summer between $30 and $40 a day.

There are full-day tours to Waimea Canyon (dubbed the Grand Canyon of the Pacific) and Wailua River, half-day treks to the north shore of the island where parts of "South Pacific" was filmed.

Half-day tours cost about $32 from Lihue; full days $50. Helicopter jaunts above the breathtaking tropical isle run about $100, varying with the trip's duration.

Within a short driving distance of Poipu Beach State Park is the Spouting Horn, a geyser of water that fires out of a lava tube, and the Tunnel of Trees, landmark columns of eucalyptus planted by an early sugar cane rancher as a wind break. ------------------------------------------------------------------- More information

Kauai maintains a hotline which provides the latest information on accommodations, attractions and recovery. The number is 1-800-262-1400. Travel agents also can provide information.