DHS says that Americans need to be prepared for a power outage of up to 6 months

[BugoutBear]

There's a food crisis waiting to happen in Hawaii. Too many people on a small island. Yes, the jungle provides a lot of foodstuffs but not constantly. I've got coconuts, mangos, and lime growing wild here on my property as well as bitter melon and a bunch of other stuff that's probably edible if I could only identify it. But it's not going to provide an every day meal. Wild pig are hugely numerous (and a nuisance ... one nearly killed my dog last year and I ended up with a $400 vet bill) but if people had to rely on them for food they'd disappear quick.

The food chain would quickly turn to wild edibles > wild pig > dogs and cats > people.

But that's not incredibly different from parts of the mainland.

Just no more poi please!
When I was a kid I'd sneak into the pineapple/sugarcane fields. I'd imagine they would be moderately monitored in a HTF event.
I miss the wild mangoes.

[Miradus]

I love poke, hate poi. :)

Even without a crisis, you have to guard your agriculture here. There's signs up everywhere asking people to not buy from anyone that cannot prove they grew it and talking about agricultural theft.

It's partly a cultural thing. A lot of the Hawaiians don't feel like anyone has the right to own property and if they see you have a mango tree they have no issue with going and picking your mangos, even if it's in your yard. The problem gets complicated when you've got a lot of people who own property here, had fruit trees planted, and then are only here for 1 week out of the whole year. The fruit just falls on the ground and rots, so shouldn't someone take it?

My own personal line is that if I'm running thieves away from your house 51 weeks out of the year, I'm helping myself to your avocado tree with or without your permission. But similarly, I wouldn't take fruit from someone's house who actually lives there.

And the current thing of raiding the fields and trees at night in order to fill your pickup and then go down to the tourist areas to sell them for cash to buy meth ... well ... I don't think there's ANYONE who would agree to that.

And the wild pig hunters here are as bad as they were in Texas. They'll cut your fences to let their dogs through and couldn't care less who owns what. But at least here they don't usually shoot at the hogs. It's considered unmanly. They let their dogs pin the hog down and then they kill it with a spear.

[Laura19]

Wow, thanks, Miradus! A first hand account. I learned a lot

[Miradus]

Thanks. Of course situations are going to vary from place to place and culture to culture, but I bet they only vary according to the timeline.

So as an update, the hurricane the OP was about landed last night about 10pm but it was enormously diminished. Just a tropical cyclone when it made landfall. We got some (needed) rain and a little bit of wind. It was actually very pleasant.

I've been sitting here all morning unaware there were any issues but when I ran to the store just now I discovered that there's police roadblocks up to stop looting and (reportedly) island-wide there's a massive power outage. All the stores are closed. At the gas station/convenience store/sandwich shop/bait and tackle/farm supply store I always go to (which is the only thing nearby) they were closed and people had been sitting in the parking lot for HOURS waiting for electricity so they could pump gas and drive home. NEVER let your tank get that empty.

So the benefits of being off-grid and on satellite internet is that I remain unaware of anything that's going on 15 miles away. :)

[KingsX]

I was born and raised in an arid desert area. It would creep me out to live on an island.

My aunt lived on the west coast. Even in summer, creepy cold fog would roll in at night.

[Lenno]

More Than 40,000 Without Power In Manhattan After ‘Major Disturbance’

[Bob Roberts]

Miradus, thanks SO MUCH for your insight here.....really helpful and appreciated.