Puna’s Resilience

Tropical Storm Iselle and the June 27 lava flow, in addition to the damage they wrought, provided a unique learning opportunity for scientists.

Nine months ago, as lower Puna communities still were rebuilding from Iselle and remained under threat from the advancing June 27 lava flow, a team of University of Hawaii at Hilo researchers launched a new study that would require months of data collection and interviews with area residents.

“From a research perspective, we wanted to know, how do people cope with natural disasters?” said Lynn Morrison, a medical anthropologist at UH-Hilo. “And we wanted to know, how do people cope with two disasters. One was such an acute, immediate thing, and then the other was this chronic stress that went on and on. How do you live on edge for so long?”

Study co-investigator Alexis Ching says that she and Morrison, along with Marina Kelley, are still evaluating the data they have collected, but many interesting patterns have emerged which could one day help communities be better prepared when disaster strikes.

“With Iselle, there was this immediate coming-together experience,” she said.

Heavy winds buffeted lower Puna with the arrival of Tropical Storm Iselle on Aug. 7, 2014, knocking down thousands of trees, damaging homes and vehicles, while also bringing down power lines all over the district. Most residents found themselves in the same boat, trying to clean up, finding sources of water, food and ice, and looking for ways to keep up to date on events and keep in contact with the outside world without phone lines or Internet access.

“People reacted,” Ching said. “Nanawale was kind of set up as a hub for lower Puna where organizations could come to help people after Iselle.”

The physical impacts of Iselle were more immediate and people didn’t have much time to dwell on it. Then the lava flow came along, which transitioned the community into a more long-term period of ongoing stress. The physical damage caused by the flow wasn’t nearly as bad, but its lasting psychological impacts were more acute.

“Some people seemed to be emotionally and mentally equipped to better deal with these turn of events than other people were,” Ching said.

Preparation is deeply important in any emergency situation, and communities that worked better together ended up being better prepared for Iselle and the flow, she said.

“There was a sense of coming together and facing a common challenge instead of going it alone,” Ching said.

Some area residents stepped up and served as rallying points for the community, she said, displaying leadership and calm nerves under intense pressure.

Perhaps not surprisingly, those who had been through past lava flows, such as those who lived in and near Kalapana, were “emotionally and mentally equipped to cope with the uncertainty that came with the lava flow,” she said.

“I would say that these residents are one of our strongest resources, because the situation was all about how individuals reacted to the threat,” she said.

Some residents took charge and helped to provide services in areas that were hardest hit. People like Ronette Gonsalves displayed a sense of self-reliance and resiliency that helped others to cope.

“She was a key player, an example of the resiliency,” Ching said.

Gonsalves worked to set up a food pantry and distribution network within Nanawale Estates, ensuring that families who were without food, water, and other necessities had a place to turn.

In honor of the lava flow remaining stalled on the side of the mountain since March, it’s time for Puna residents to breathe a sigh of relief and come together to celebrate their strength as a community, she added. Ching and Kelley have organized a “Puna Resiliency Block Party” from 3-8 p.m. on Oct. 24 on Main Street Pahoa. There will be plenty of live music, ono grinds, local vendors, art, keiki activities, a photo booth, and more.

Following the event, the locally-produced documentary, “The Pahoa Flow,” will air at the Akebono Theater.

The party is a way to honor the community, allow residents to continue the healing process, and to thank the community for its participation in the resiliency study.

In the next couple of months, the results of the study should be ready to be shared with the various community associations in Puna, Morrison said.

“Our hope in starting this was that we’d come away with something tangible that we could give back to the community,” she said. “I think a lot of people know anecdotally what various neighborhoods were doing, but our study introduces some rigor.”

For more information, visit the Puna Resiliency Block Party page on Facebook or the website at http://punaresiliencyeven.wix.com/punaresiliencyevent.

Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.