HONOLULU: Towering waves on Hawaii’s south shores crashed into homes and businesses, spilled across highways and upended weddings over the weekend.
The large waves — some more than 20 feet (6 meters) high — came from a combination of a strong south swell that peaked Saturday evening, particularly high tides and rising sea levels associated with climate change, the National Weather Service said Monday.
A wedding Saturday evening in Kailua-Kona was interrupted when a set of large waves swamped the event, sending tables and chairs crashing toward guests.
Sara Ackerman, an author who grew up in Hawaii and attended the wedding, filmed the waves as they barreled ashore.
“It just was huge,” she said. ”I was filming it and then it just came over the wall and just completely annihilated all the tables and chairs.”
She said it happened about five minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin.
“It wasn’t like a life-threatening situation by any means whatsoever,” she said. “It was just like, ‘Oh my gosh ... what are we going to do? Where are we going to put the tables?’”
She said they went ahead with the ceremony and cleaned up the mess after the newlyweds exchanged vows.
“We had the ceremony and it was beautiful, having all the (sea) spray,” she said. “The ocean was really wild. So it was great for the photos.”
Chris Brenchley, the meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service office in Honolulu, said several factors came together to create such huge waves.
“Waves over 12 or 15 feet (3.66 or 4.57 meters), those become extremely big and really rare to have,” he said. “It’s the largest it’s been in several decades.”
Brenchley said the swell was produced in the South Pacific, where it’s currently the winter season.
“They had a particularly strong winter storm where the winds were focused directly toward places like Samoa and then further on to the north into Hawaii,” he said.
Remnants of Hurricane Darby passed south of Hawaii but had no major impact on the surf, he said.
While singular events like this hard to pin directly to climate change, Brenchley said the warming planet is playing a role.
“The most direct type of impact that we can use with climate change is the sea level rise. Any time you add just even small amounts of water, you raise that sea level just a little bit,” he said. “And now those impacts will be exacerbated whenever we have a large storm event or a ... high, high tide.”
Most large summer swells that come from the south are no bigger than about 10 feet (3 meters), which would trigger a high surf advisory.
“We had some waves that were reaching 20 feet (6 meters), 20 feet-plus even,” Brenchley said. “That’s getting on the level of historic.”
Hawaii’s north shores, where professional surfers often compete, usually get much larger waves than other parts of the islands. The predominant swell hits the north shores in the winter and the south shores in the summer.
Lifeguards and rescue crews across the state had a busy weekend.
They conducted at least 1,960 rescues on the island of Oahu alone on Saturday and Sunday.
Honolulu officials reported one serious injury when a surfer suffered a laceration to the back of his head.
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Hawaii waves swamp homes, weddings during ‘historic’ swell
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Hawaii waves swamp homes, weddings during ‘historic’ swell
- A wedding Saturday evening in Kailua-Kona was interrupted when a set of large waves swamped the event, sending tables and chairs crashing toward guests
Costa Rica’s Grynspan pledges reform in bid for UN chief job
GENEVA: Rebeca Grynspan is upbeat about her chances of becoming the next head of the United Nations, which she insists must become more agile in tackling the world’s crises.
The Costa Rican former vice president said she wanted to rebuild global trust in the United Nations if she becomes its next secretary-general.
“We are very optimistic. I think that I am more than a viable candidate,” Grynspan said on Friday, her last working day before stepping aside as head of the UN trade and development agency UNCTAD to focus on her campaign.
The second term of current UN chief Antonio Guterres expires at the end of the year.
“My profile is right for this moment. I know the UN enough to reform it and enough to defend it,” she told the UN correspondents’ association ACANU.
“I have a lot of experience in my political life, taking decisions under a lot of stress and in complex situations. I have been in the highest positions in the UN.”
It is Latin America’s turn next for the top UN job and two other candidates are running: former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, and Rafael Grossi, the Argentinian head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Founded in 1945, the UN has never had a woman secretary-general.
Grynspan, an economist, is not looking to be chosen on that basis.
“I don’t need any favors to be elected for the secretary-general; I just need people not to discriminate me for being a woman,” the 70-year-old said.
“If the competition will be fair, with no biases, I will make it. I have the CV; I have the merits.”
- Rebuilding trust -
Last month, Guterres warned that the UN was facing financial collapse and could run out of cash by July, with member states neither paying in full nor or time.
“The UN has to change,” said Grynspan.
There are far greater capacities in civil society and the private sector than in 1945, “and we need to be able to harness that: we don’t have to do everything in the UN.”
As for peace and security, “prevention and mediation are essential. But they need agility and flexibility from the structures of the UN. And I don’t think we have that right now.”
US President Donald Trump has slashed funding to some UN agencies and has repeatedly questioned the UN’s relevance and attacked its priorities, setting up his own “Board of Peace.”
“The UN is unique because it’s the only legitimate, universal organization,” said Grynspan.
“We need to rebuild trust with the member states. We need to regain the belief that the UN is useful to solve problems,” she said, vowing to bring her personal qualities to the task.
“I am able to reach to people not only with logic, but also with inspiration, optimism and hope,” she said.
“We need more of that too, because we need to connect again much more with people. We will need to conquer the hearts and minds again.”
- Leadership style -
The UNCTAD chief said her leadership style revolved around being “direct, honest, and evidence-based... There have to be reasons, not only emotions.”
Grynspan recounted that her parents, who were from Poland, “barely survived” World War II. Her maternal grandparents were killed in the Holocaust.
Her parents went “with nothing” to Costa Rica, a country that “allowed them to have a good life.”
“Costa Rica has taught me a lot. It’s a country that I not only love dearly, but I admire,” she said.
“I am not an impetuous person. I think things through. I have the serenity not to lose it under tension and under pressure. I consult. I hear. And I am brave. I take risks.”
rjm/ceg
The Costa Rican former vice president said she wanted to rebuild global trust in the United Nations if she becomes its next secretary-general.
“We are very optimistic. I think that I am more than a viable candidate,” Grynspan said on Friday, her last working day before stepping aside as head of the UN trade and development agency UNCTAD to focus on her campaign.
The second term of current UN chief Antonio Guterres expires at the end of the year.
“My profile is right for this moment. I know the UN enough to reform it and enough to defend it,” she told the UN correspondents’ association ACANU.
“I have a lot of experience in my political life, taking decisions under a lot of stress and in complex situations. I have been in the highest positions in the UN.”
It is Latin America’s turn next for the top UN job and two other candidates are running: former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet, and Rafael Grossi, the Argentinian head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Founded in 1945, the UN has never had a woman secretary-general.
Grynspan, an economist, is not looking to be chosen on that basis.
“I don’t need any favors to be elected for the secretary-general; I just need people not to discriminate me for being a woman,” the 70-year-old said.
“If the competition will be fair, with no biases, I will make it. I have the CV; I have the merits.”
- Rebuilding trust -
Last month, Guterres warned that the UN was facing financial collapse and could run out of cash by July, with member states neither paying in full nor or time.
“The UN has to change,” said Grynspan.
There are far greater capacities in civil society and the private sector than in 1945, “and we need to be able to harness that: we don’t have to do everything in the UN.”
As for peace and security, “prevention and mediation are essential. But they need agility and flexibility from the structures of the UN. And I don’t think we have that right now.”
US President Donald Trump has slashed funding to some UN agencies and has repeatedly questioned the UN’s relevance and attacked its priorities, setting up his own “Board of Peace.”
“The UN is unique because it’s the only legitimate, universal organization,” said Grynspan.
“We need to rebuild trust with the member states. We need to regain the belief that the UN is useful to solve problems,” she said, vowing to bring her personal qualities to the task.
“I am able to reach to people not only with logic, but also with inspiration, optimism and hope,” she said.
“We need more of that too, because we need to connect again much more with people. We will need to conquer the hearts and minds again.”
- Leadership style -
The UNCTAD chief said her leadership style revolved around being “direct, honest, and evidence-based... There have to be reasons, not only emotions.”
Grynspan recounted that her parents, who were from Poland, “barely survived” World War II. Her maternal grandparents were killed in the Holocaust.
Her parents went “with nothing” to Costa Rica, a country that “allowed them to have a good life.”
“Costa Rica has taught me a lot. It’s a country that I not only love dearly, but I admire,” she said.
“I am not an impetuous person. I think things through. I have the serenity not to lose it under tension and under pressure. I consult. I hear. And I am brave. I take risks.”
rjm/ceg
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