Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Mayor Blangiardi on Hurricane Lowell, new deputy chiefs at HPD, and turning 80 years old

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Mayor Blangiardi on Hurricane Lowell, new deputy chiefs at HPD, and turning 80 years old · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:14
  welcome to the One O'ahu Podcast.
• 0:17
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and today is Thursday, September 10th, 2026.
• 0:21
  We're back this week with Mayor Rick Blangiardi.
• 0:23
  On the heels of yet another storm.
• 0:25
  I feel like I've been saying that back to back weeks, mayor.
• 0:27
  But what kind of impacts did we see from law?
• 0:30
  Well, you know, I will tell you that, it is amazing
• 0:34
  that we've had these back to back, episodes.
• 0:37
  And this one was of real concern because it was really a big, big storm
• 0:41
  with strong winds, but fortunately, it stayed west.
• 0:44
  Enough of us, you know?
• 0:45
  And so we we, it's looks around the island.
• 0:49
  We're still in the process of doing damage assessment.
• 0:51
  We had some wind damage, whatever.
• 0:53
  We about 21,000 people lose power.
• 0:56
  You know, we had, some flooding trees, but
• 0:59
  but I don't think at this point now, maybe premature.
• 1:04
  We're anywhere near the amount of damage on Oahu that we had from our.
• 1:07
  But I think overall we got out of this pretty good.
• 1:09
  I what I really want to do is thank the public because where I live,
• 1:12
  I can see streets. I can be the one.
• 1:14
  We asked people to stay off the roads
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  and admittedly the winds did kick up The winds kicked up around 8:00
• 1:20
  at some point, especially where we were, but a lot of people stayed home.
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  The heeded the warnings.
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  I know we were really prepared.
• 1:26
  The city was, so proud of our first responders.
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  We held a press conference, you know, And,
• 1:33
  everybody had something really good to say.
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  And, you know, I think we're getting more, familiar.
• 1:39
  Our own drill is coming, you know, down, if you will.
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  But I think the city was really ready.
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  I'm just grateful that,
• 1:47
  compared to what I saw on Kauai, yesterday
• 1:50
  and the early pictures and stuff, the amount of work they've got over there,
• 1:53
  really grateful that we got out of it the way we did.
• 1:56
  Yeah.
• 1:56
  I want to touch on something that you said as of this recording.
• 1:58
  You're right.
• 1:59
  There are many still on Oahu without power.
• 2:02
  And I know Hawaiian Electric isn't a city department,
• 2:04
  but what, if anything, can be done to help our island's fragile electric grid?
• 2:09
  Yeah.
• 2:09
  You know, I
• 2:11
  you know, I don't want to be critical.
• 2:13
  I know that it can be seen by a lot of people.
• 2:16
  It's easy to point fingers when things aren't working, you know?
• 2:20
  They're certainly doing the best they can.
• 2:23
  I, I remember a number of years ago, when they were going to be purchased,
• 2:27
  and the next year I was in town and things at both Hawaiian
• 2:31
  Electric and next year were saying about the needed investments
• 2:35
  in the future and the access that they had to capital markets and management
• 2:39
  expertise or whatever, you know, and at the time has come and gone.
• 2:43
  That deal got killed by Governor Higa.
• 2:46
  And, you know, I think wired electric has probably made investments
• 2:50
  with the cap infusion of money that I think you would need.
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  This probably not happened.
• 2:55
  You know, they really got set back because of Lahaina.
• 2:57
  It's all understandable. Again, I don't want to point fingers.
• 3:00
  So I think it's a matter of realizing just how vulnerable and fragile we are.
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  You know, during Lalo and six transmission lines went down,
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  we were, you know, and they couldn't access, you know, because of the winds.
• 3:12
  I couldn't get up there in a helicopter, people without power for hours.
• 3:15
  And it was very frustrating.
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  And that was a big concern going in, to be honest with you.
• 3:19
  I mean, compared to Kauai, the report on Kauai was
• 3:22
  33,000 homes, 92% that have power.
• 3:25
  And in fact, I don't know as of right now.
• 3:29
  But initially they were saying that could be for some time, you know,
• 3:32
  that's a different system.
• 3:34
  But why the HECO.
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  But it's just the frailty of, of,
• 3:39
  having aboveground lines at a lot of places and storm wind events.
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  And that's what happens.
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  The National Weather Service had one forecast on Sunday
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  and a completely different forecast on Monday morning.
• 3:51
  That kind of whiplash.
• 3:52
  Does that have any effect on, like the decision making,
• 3:55
  at least the timing, maybe even the readiness?
• 3:57
  Yeah.
• 3:57
  I mean, candidly speaking, which if they're all of,
• 3:59
  I think in less than 24 hours when, when that happened.
• 4:03
  So it could be properly responsive.
• 4:05
  But we were looking like we were going to get a pass
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  and then became markedly different because it turned eastward
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  and, you know, and it was predicted that it could do that.
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  I guess, you know, when you start to sit there,
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  you look at the radar screens, you just say, okay,
• 4:17
  you want to visualize it continue in this case
• 4:20
  away from Kauai for the northwest and certainly away from Oahu.
• 4:23
  But it kind of came in and, so, yeah, we, we,
• 4:27
  we went to full, full battle mode and the city again was ready.
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  We had I wanted vehicles, you know, we had some flash flooding
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  and different busses out of this actually started on Sunday afternoon away.
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  And because we had some debris, get caught up and so, and my hello,
• 4:42
  my car we had, we had streams flooding and I was looking at early on pictures
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  where streets were, you know, completely on the water.
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  So, you
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  know, the one thing I said all along is, you know, with severe weather,
• 4:56
  we have to appreciate, understand the vulnerability and all the more we need
• 5:00
  to prepare for it, understand it,
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  and, be as resigned as we possibly can.
• 5:06
  Yeah, I like the you use the word resilient
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  because the remnants of Murray don't seem to be too concerning.
• 5:12
  But further east in the Pacific, we do have those two areas,
• 5:15
  of low pressure that we are keeping an eye on.
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  So it seems like, you know, these storms, like you
• 5:19
  said, back to back to back to back. It.
• 5:21
  It's almost been like since March
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  or even Super Bowl weekend when we had that wind event.
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  But when meteorologists say, you know, prepare for a busier than normal season,
• 5:30
  which we hear them say all the time, is this what you expected for this year?
• 5:32
  We were hoping not.
• 5:33
  But yeah,
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  I mean, they told us that this was an El Nino year, which they thought
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  the oceans were especially warm and that would be really predictable.
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  But as you said, you know, I've listened to that over the years.
• 5:46
  I've seen mixed results.
• 5:47
  This one seems for real.
• 5:49
  And I guess the wakeup call for all of us were the Kona lows, which.
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  started in March as you just alluded to, I mean, that was an incredible,
• 5:57
  rain system that was in your storm to kick it all off.
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  And,
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  so we're all believers right now.
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  That's why I said I felt that our first responders really knew
• 6:08
  what to do, both with the Joint Operating Center and emergency operations center.
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  But get the drill down again.
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  We learned a lot from, the Kona Low from the standpoint of not getting caught.
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  And, so we have to live with this for another couple of months,
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  so through the end of November, and that's assuming
• 6:27
  that somehow these weather systems know what month of the year.
• 6:31
  You know what I'm saying?
• 6:32
  I mean, that kind of presupposes, okay, coast over, it sort of stops.
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  I know that they got a lot of analysis, but,
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  you know, I can still remember as a kid growing up and knowing
• 6:40
  that it would be snowing on Easter Sunday, you know.
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  And how did this happen?
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  So I've learned to respect nature, and, and we'll see.
• 6:50
  But there's no question, that, this El Nino season
• 6:54
  is going to prove to be something to deal with.
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  We usually talk about the appreciation that we have
• 6:59
  for the incident management teams from New York or South Carolina.
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  Sawyers from you know, other states and counties.
• 7:07
  But this week, we actually got to return the favor
• 7:10
  by sending reinforcements to Kuwait. You can you talk about that?
• 7:12
  Yeah, I'm really proud of that.
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  I mean, I I'm sorry for Mayor Cow Academy and all the people in Kuwait.
• 7:17
  You know, I haven't gotten an update on how,
• 7:18
  but I'm sure that impacted as well, you know, and and
• 7:22
  so yeah, I mean it's 73,000 people in Hawaii.
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  I'm not exactly sure the population on NIO and they were all in need.
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  And you know, and candidly speaking, the kind of communications
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  effort is one of the examples of the kind of, you know, EMS efforts,
• 7:39
  that we,
• 7:40
  they needed we're able to supplement, complement
• 7:42
  if you will, their existing people bring in, you know,
• 7:45
  not only bring in talent, but people who knew their way around the situation
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  could actually come over, get off an airplane, and begin contributing.
• 7:53
  That feels good to be able to help them.
• 7:55
  I mean, candidly speaking, you know, during the weather
• 7:58
  where Kauai was missing,
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  Mayor Kawakami called me several times offering to help him, you know?
• 8:03
  And so, yeah, it's what a something like this happens
• 8:07
  where we're one state and we help each other out.
• 8:10
  Last week, Chief Eleazar announced his selections of Brandon Naka
• 8:13
  Sato and Parker Bodie to serve as his deputy chiefs over their HPD.
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  They're his picks, but still members of your cabinet.
• 8:22
  What do you like about those, man? Well, I think he did a great job.
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  I mean, you know, he went through a real lesson, learned.
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  He met a lot of people, you know,
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  he likes to say that when he first arrived, he didn't know one person on HPD.
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  So in all fairness, as the first chief of police in 90 years
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  was an outsider, he really did his due diligence,
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  you know, and nobody I don't know if anybody was whispering in his ear.
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  I wasn't, even though, as you just said,
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  they're going to be members of our cabinet.
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  I wanted, you know, to see what his decision making was.
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  I didn't want to bias him in any way.
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  He never he didn't really ask me for opinion.
• 8:55
  Yeah. Which was great.
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  And yeah, after he made his decision that he said, I've decided, what do you think?
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  Which is great.
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  And I was surprised, to be honest with you, in part,
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  because I actually felt like I know these two officers.
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  What I've.
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  And I've really, liked them.
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  And Parker is 39 years old, so that he's pretty
• 9:14
  young guy, but Brant is a really talented, experienced,
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  man in the police department.
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  And I just thought that the combination of the talents
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  and how they complement chief was, is really good.
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  And it also
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  from so many people in the department, they all they were all supportive, too.
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  I'm sure there's some people over there
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  who felt like somebody else should have got it.
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  You always going to have that right?
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  But I was surprised.
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  Again, I say that because I was getting text messages
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  from different people, just saying how pleased they were they a couple for me.
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  I went so far to say I've completely changed my opinion.
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  Chief was, no, in a positive way, you know, and not that they necessarily,
• 9:52
  I guess, were negative.
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  I thought they were holding out, waiting to see a kind of decision like this.
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  And he made it and everybody said, wow, that's a smart decision.
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  And everybody got behind it.
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  So he like he's demonstrating his leadership by the day.
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  And you know he has an incredible ability to do a couple of things I admire.
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  One of them is he asserts his authority, you make no mistake about he's
• 10:13
  the guy in charge, but he also does it with a certain
• 10:16
  grace, humility that makes him approachable and likable.
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  He's not, you know, he's not coming down.
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  You hit down your throat or whatever and establishing his authority.
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  He just is.
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  I think his decision making
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  is effort that he's making, getting out and meeting as many people as he can.
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  And the different things that he's doing, the kinds of questions he's asking,
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  the kinds of decisions that he's already made.
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  All of this is leading to a very healthy and really good change for HPD.
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  It's exactly what we were hoping for.
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  And getting a new leader.
• 10:50
  Sticking with leaders in your cabinet last week,
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  you were on hand to celebrate the reopening of the Hippo
• 10:55
  and the Penguin exhibit at the Honolulu John Burris brought
• 10:59
  sort of a different energy to the zoo.
• 11:00
  What did you get the different energy?
• 11:02
  You know,
• 11:02
  if I didn't if I didn't know about I think John Berry was an alien, right?
• 11:06
  Yeah. I don't know where he gets that energy.
• 11:08
  It's just like wired.
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  He's great and he just loves it.
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  You know so much about the animals, too, and even about the care of the animals.
• 11:16
  Even though he has not been a zookeeper, he's as he's told me
• 11:19
  when he was running the watch, the National Zoo, the Smithsonian
• 11:22
  back in DC, that was his all time favorite career job.
• 11:26
  And he has some great job.
• 11:27
  So he's kind of had a return to,
• 11:30
  a segment, if you will, of the workforce.
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  You know, in but he also and seen
• 11:37
  the enormous potential in that I think he's just gotten greatly excited.
• 11:41
  He's just a wonderful human being, is very, very knowledgeable.
• 11:46
  Mayor, I wasn't there.
• 11:46
  But you got to meet journey last week. Yeah.
• 11:48
  What was that like, asking for you?
• 11:50
  I know, I know, we came to worship, you know, we're all set.
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  You know,
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  now that, you know, the guy, I've had the opportunity
• 11:58
  now to be Janet Jackson and Carrie Underwood or whatever.
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  And nothing else.
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  Those two ladies are accomplished stars, superstars.
• 12:07
  But these guys were really down to earth.
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  I was shocked at how grounded they were and how appreciative they were
• 12:15
  for the little bitty things were doing out there.
• 12:17
  And, you know, the governor was there. He presented him a guitar.
• 12:19
  And we we did a couple of proclamations, but, they were like really blown away.
• 12:24
  And they really love Come to Hawaii.
• 12:27
  One of the things I learned about them is their second concert.
• 12:30
  They ever did was in 1974, was a diamond head crater right at 100,000 people.
• 12:36
  So that Hawaii for them is.
• 12:39
  So this was their 37th appearance at Hawaii, 27th at the blaze.
• 12:44
  So as I stood on the stage with these guys are talking around and their memories
• 12:48
  of of the place, it's it's more than familiar for them.
• 12:51
  They love performing here.
• 12:53
  And and so I didn't get to see the causes, just because of my schedule.
• 12:59
  But a bunch of people that I work with have,
• 13:04
  which I'm doing something wrong.
• 13:05
  And everybody said this, I think this is great.
• 13:08
  The concert was great.
• 13:09
  You know, they played the deep cuts and but they put out a one
• 13:13
  concert with the music that became really popular is exceptional.
• 13:17
  You know, it's the kind of stuff you get up with single one. Yeah.
• 13:20
  And these guys just seem to be reveling at this stage of the life here.
• 13:23
  That one of them whispered to me.
• 13:25
  They said, you know, this building, this is our final tour,
• 13:27
  but we're not done yet, you know, which I thought was pretty cool.
• 13:30
  Yeah, yeah.
• 13:32
  It was a tough start to the year so far for the rainbow warrior football team,
• 13:36
  but they have a chance to pick up a win for the season this coming weekend.
• 13:40
  What do they need to do against New Mexico State?
• 13:43
  You know what. Yeah I'm going to be missing.
• 13:45
  They got to be able to take better control of the ball.
• 13:48
  I thought they I
• 13:50
  thought defensively they gave up a little too much of the ground as well.
• 13:53
  You know you got to get get people off the field you know.
• 13:56
  And but they're playing hard and it's you know it is a long season.
• 14:01
  And Vegas is a good team.
• 14:02
  You know it's there.
• 14:04
  It's a pretty good football team society.
• 14:07
  They like so often you see bigger name schools go out there.
• 14:10
  They play like Western Michigan almost knocking off Michigan.
• 14:14
  Yeah I mean which probably should have happened
• 14:16
  to all the stuff I've been watching this week.
• 14:18
  Said they got robbed on the clock.
• 14:20
  But that aside, my point is they played two formidable opponents
• 14:24
  and and they've looked good at times in both games.
• 14:27
  I just got to sync it up and get the right,
• 14:29
  get it, get it together, play a whole game like that.
• 14:32
  I think this coming weekend is a good chance,
• 14:34
  but I will tell you that I wouldn't I wouldn't look past anybody.
• 14:37
  I think that, this team is going to have to come of age.
• 14:40
  So consequently, in doing that, I think that everybody
• 14:43
  and anybody in their schedule right now gives them a game.
• 14:48
  Mayor,
• 14:49
  this time next week, you'll be one year older.
• 14:52
  Yeah, I know you bring that.
• 14:54
  I know moving into this particular birthday.
• 14:57
  Yeah.
• 14:58
  What's been the emotion, reflection, maybe even disbelief?
• 15:01
  I don't even I don't know how you unless it's just a birthday.
• 15:04
  It's like I'm moving into a decade and moving into a decade.
• 15:07
  That makes you sound old, because when you say 80,
• 15:10
  there's no denying it is a big it's a big number, right?
• 15:14
  I think I kind of was in denial during my 70s and maybe even my 60s.
• 15:18
  I just kind of played through that.
• 15:21
  But I've gotten some really nice text with people about 80 being the new 60.
• 15:25
  I don't know if I can totally believe that.
• 15:26
  But I feel good.
• 15:28
  I feel, you know, but so my energy is there.
• 15:30
  I'm trying not to get too crazy about the number, but I have to admit,
• 15:34
  for the first time in my entire life, saying this number out loud
• 15:39
  is, I'm aware of a wish of.
• 15:43
  I don't know how else to say it.
• 15:45
  But if I could, you know, I feel really good.
• 15:48
  My energy is really good.
• 15:49
  And so I'm looking forward to, you know, not letting
• 15:53
  the number take over, you know, take me over the old, Clint Eastwood.
• 15:56
  Or they have a country western, so they'll let the old man in.
• 15:59
  That's the mantra.
• 16:00
  So just going to keep pushing and go as hard as I can.
• 16:04
  While not known where this is the one or Who podcast.
• 16:06
  So for one final thought, well, I just again, I want to thank the community,
• 16:10
  as we've all gotten season as we talked about as a team,
• 16:14
  our first responders and our game planning, on how the heat on the one
• 16:18
  is incoming storms and what it could mean and how to best prepare it.
• 16:22
  I think to the community is also showing an awareness.
• 16:25
  They know that this is for real. I mean, we put up the radar screens.
• 16:28
  We're not making this stuff up.
• 16:29
  It's not like we're, you know,
• 16:31
  and they're seeing a lot of bad weather in other places as well.
• 16:34
  Right. Plus we've been impacted this year.
• 16:36
  So I want to thank the community for, doing exactly what we said.
• 16:41
  Be prepared, be alert, contributing.
• 16:43
  If you are not to endanger our first responders and do
• 16:47
  stupid stuff out there, we have to go out into these harrowing rescues.
• 16:50
  You know, so I just want to say my words.
• 16:54
  Everybody just.
• 16:55
  We'll get through this.
• 16:57
  As we talked about a little bit earlier, this rest of this year can be daunting.
• 17:00
  We don't know what any of these storms, will bring,
• 17:03
  but it looks like we're going to be going through something similar.
• 17:07
  I hope not, I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like as you see, it suggested
• 17:11
  we could be repeating this scenario more than a couple more times going forward,
• 17:15
  just so everybody keep their heads in the game.
• 17:18
  Mayor, thank you for your time.
• 17:19
  Thank you Brandi and I wish you a happy early birthday.
• 17:22
  Thank you.
• 17:23
  Mahalo to all of you for listening.
• 17:25
  And until next time, Aloha.