August 21, 2004

• Here on the Big Island, we've had 3 Civil Defense radio announcements this past week. The first was the one I mentioned in my last blog, about the bomb scare.

  
  

  Yesterday, we had one regarding a severe 2-car traffic accident on the Volcano Highway. They shut down the highway to do their investigation for several hours, because the accident, a head-on collision, resulted in the deaths of 2 passengers; one from each car. A 19-year-old young man died from one car & a 5-year-old child from the other. One car's passengers were tourists from New York.

  
  

  The latest I heard on the evening news from Oahu is that they say speed & alcohol are now being considered as factors in the crash. Apparently, the car with the local people was over-taking other cars in a no passing zone. This is the second time a fatal accident involving passing in a no passing zone has happened on that stretch of road in recent months. The last killed (officially) 4, but also took the life of a near-term baby. Also, speed, alcohol & drugs were a factor in that collision.

  
  

  I don't get what these people's hurry was. The maximum speed limit on this island is 55! We have no interstate freeways. I know there are times when I'm supposed to be somewhere by a certain time, like medical appointments, but if the traffic's speed is less than the speed limit, I just figure there's a reason I don't need to go faster. Like when I went to my appointment Monday, getting there about 10 minutes late. It turned out that the one I was to see was running behind on her appointments, so I still had to wait to see her.

  
  

  Why rush? You don't really get where you're supposed to be much sooner than had you not rushed. I find that sometimes I end up passing those in such a hurry they had to zoom by me when they get boxed in ahead of me. Hehehehe! You certainly don't make it on time when you get pulled over for speeding & you don't get there at all if involved in a traffic accident! It might just be the last time you travel anywhere, short of in a hearse!

  
  

  We had another CD radio announcement this morning. They closed off a section of downtown Hilo due to an oil spill & clean up. The area they indicated was near a McDonald's, gas station, church, YMCA, grocery store & several small restaurants. I haven't heard any updates about the spill details. I find it odd that it was an oil spill. With as much area as they closed down, that doesn't make sense. It does if it was gasoline, being volatile & knowing there's a gas station in that area. I'll see what the Hawaii Tribune Herald says about it tomorrow.

  
  

  I found an interesting new link accidentally while researching the info on Tropical Storm Estelle, which is predicted to become a hurricane within the next 24 hours & may head for Hawaii. This link is to webcams that focus on Puu Oo vent, the site of the long time current eruption. Click on it at nighttime & you'll see the glow of the molten lava. Who knows, you might even be able to catch active bubbling or fountaining! http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/cam/index.htm

  
  

  If TS Estelle becomes a hurricane & decides to change its trajectory to WNW instead of the due westerly direction it's currently taking, I'll be posting another hurricane watch like I did last year.

  • 2:07 am
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