The Central Pacific hurricane season is ending today as quietly as every other day over the past six months — without a tropical storm anywhere near the islands.

Despite the tranquility in middle of the Pacific, state emergency planners have kept busy monitoring and analyzing the devastating Atlantic hurricane season as part of ongoing efforts to improve Hawaii’s tropical storm resilience.

U.S. islands, in particular, did not fare well this summer as major hurricanes blasted Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Florida Keys.

“I couldn’t believe how bad it was over there, and how good it was over here,” said Vern Miyagi, administrator of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Miyagi said in the aftermath of the 2017 season Hawaii officials have been focusing on comparisons with Puerto Rico, which continues to struggle more than two months after powerful Hurricane Maria knocked out nearly all of the island’s power.

The preliminary conclusion: Hawaii is in far better shape than Puerto Rico as far as its ability to weather a major hurricane.

Miyagi said although both places are challenged by remote locations, there are significant differences between the two. For one, Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy earlier in the year and then installed a new governor and emergency management team just prior to being slammed.

Hurricane Maria made landfall on Puerto Rico with 155 mph winds on Sept. 20, killing 55 people. Two weeks earlier Hurricane Irma, the most powerful Caribbean hurricane on record, moved along the edge of Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico’s top recovery problems, Miyagi said, centered on power, communication, water and distribution of commodities and supplies.

But its most glaring problem was the power grid, which was in poor shape even before Maria struck.

After the storm, the government-owned utility was hamstrung financially in its ability to repair its own infrastructure or to even get help. It’s a situation that has left at least half the island in the dark to this day.

“Hawaii’s energy infrastructure is much stronger than Puerto Rico,” Miyagi said.

Jim Kelly, Hawaiian Electric’s vice president of corporate relations, agreed, saying the company has been putting a lot of resources into upgrading its power grid. For example, he said, many wooden structures are being replaced with steel.

“It’s safe to say our grid system is stronger than Puerto Rico,” Kelly said. “But if there is a direct hit, there will be damage and outages no matter how prepared we are.”

Oahu and Puerto Rico do share some similarities that make both systems vulnerable, he said. On both islands, power is carried on towering transmission lines over mountains. On Oahu, transmission lines take power from central and leeward power plants over the Koolau mountains to the windward side and east to Hawaii Kai.

A key difference is the ability to rebound after a storm. Hawaiian Electric has strong emergency mutual assistance agreements with mainland utilities that will bring crews and equipment to Hawaii within days of a disaster, Kelly said.

Miyagi said Hawaii, in general, is more resilient because of close relationships between county, state and federal emergency management teams and private entities nurtured through ongoing exercises and working groups.

In addition, Oahu’s military outposts can offer significant support during a disaster under Defense Support to Civil Authorities regulations. Puerto Rico, by comparison, has little military presence.

“The majority of military dependents also live within the community and are a part of us,” Miyagi said. “We take care of each other.”

Miyagi said his agency’s preparedness branch is continuing to examine the preparation, response and recovery operations for Puerto Rico as a case study for Hawaii, and the state’s next hurricane exercise in June will consider what was learned from Puerto Rico.

Additionally, he said the agency is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency on lessons learned from Houston and Florida, as well as Puerto Rico.

“We will incorporate all of these lessons to ensure they are considered in our planning for Hawaii,” he said.

At the beginning of Hawaii’s hurricane season, Central Pacific Hurricane Center forecasters predicted anywhere from five to eight tropical cyclones this year, in part because of signals that an El Nino might be coming.

The global weather pattern never developed, however, leaving neutral conditions that eventually gave way to a weak La Nina, El Nino’s polar opposite. 

Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane researcher with Colorado State University, said high pressure and sinking air dominated the Central Pacific, making conditions rather stable throughout the season.

He said only one tropical storm and one tropical depression appeared in the Central Pacific, an area that extends from 140 degrees west longitude to the international dateline at 180 degrees.

But both storms, which formed in the Eastern Pacific in July, were losing steam and died quickly just after crossing 140 degrees west and hundreds of miles from the islands.

When forecasters made their hurricane prediction in late May, Miyagi said his agency was urging residents to prepare an emergency kit with 14 days of food and supplies rather than the previously recommended seven days.

The agency figured it would take extra time to re-establish power plants, harbors and other key facilities following an especially big storm, he said.

Asked about the recommendation Wednesday, Miyagi said he has no regrets about the recommendation. In fact, his staff might consider recommending an even larger kit in 2018, he said, considering the recovery problems experienced during the Atlantic hurricane season.