49              
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.C.R. NO.            
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  CONCURRENT
                        RESOLUTION

REQUESTING HURRICANE SHELTERING IMPLEMENTATION.



 1       WHEREAS, Hawaii is vulnerable to natural disasters
 2   including hurricane-force winds, flying debris, and storms that
 3   are extremely dangerous to life and limb; and
 4   
 5       WHEREAS, the Hawaiian Islands have been impacted in recent
 6   history by several hurricanes that have caused major property
 7   damage--the most destructive of which was Hurricane Iniki; and
 8   
 9       WHEREAS, Hawaii is surrounded by the vastness of the
10   Pacific Ocean, and its residents cannot be readily evacuated
11   when hurricane-force winds, flying debris, and storms occur;
12   and
13   
14       WHEREAS, the Nineteenth Legislature of the State of Hawaii
15   urged the Department of Defense, Civil Defense Division, to
16   implement the recommendations contained in a Civil Defense
17   report on the availability and condition of hurricane-resistant
18   public shelters within each county; now, therefore,
19   
20       BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
21   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
22   of 1999, the Senate concurring, that the State, counties, and
23   communities should consider criteria for hurricane-resistant
24   shelters in the course of constructing new public schools and
25   new state facilities; and 
26   
27       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that sufficient hurricane shelter
28   space be provided by using existing buildings and facilities
29   that can be quickly converted in to public emergency shelters,
30   tempered by the fact that not all public buildings were
31   designed and constructed to withstand hurricane-force winds;
32   and
33   
34       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Defense,
35   Civil Defense Division, is supported in its efforts to continue
36   the facilities survey of potential hurricane emergency shelters
37   throughout the State and to urge the surveyed property owners,
38   and future owners of such properties, to consider retrofitting
39   measures; and

 
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                                  H.C.R. NO.            
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1       BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
 2   Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Adjutant General.
 3 
 4 
 5 
 6                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________