Hurricane Iwa

Hurricane Iwa, taken from the Hawaiian language name of the frigatebird, devastated the islands of Niihau, Kauai and Oahu in the state of Hawaii as a Category 1 Hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale on November 23, 1982. It was the first major tropical cyclone tracked by the Central Pacific Hurricane Center in Honolulu to hit the Hawaiian Islands since statehood in 1959. A rare late-season tropical cyclone, Hurricane Iwa was caused by various atmospheric conditions that included an El Niño.

The eye of the storm traveled northward approximately 25 miles off the northwestern coast of the island of Kauai. While in Hawaiian waters, it traveled 30 to 40 miles per hour with maximum sustained winds charted at 80 to 90 miles per hour. Gusts were recorded well over 100 miles per hour. While moving through the Hawaiian Islands, it destroyed hotels and condominiums and sank vessels moored in local harbors. Communities left unprotected by coral reefs on the three islands were pounded with high surf and storm surges, flattening beachfront properties. Considered one of the most expensive hurricanes to hit the United States at the time, Hurricane Iwa incurred USD $200 million in damage.

Only one death resulted from Hurricane Iwa. A seaman aboard USS Goldsborough (DDG-20), Jose Cantu, died when a wave clashed with the United States Navy vessel as it tried to escape Pearl Harbor to ride out the tropical cyclone. A shipmate of Cantu, Lieutenant Ray Beard, was also swept off their ship by the same wave. He survived after swimming 2 miles onshore to the Honolulu International Airport reef runway.