By Dan Nakaso. Already a Honolulu Star-Advertiser subscriber? Log in now to continue reading. Among the resident drownings, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders disproportionately have the highest death rate. In a state surrounded by water, the reasons are many: Low-income, large families where parents often work multiple jobs and lack the time to teach their children to swim, even if they know how to themselves. Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox.
It's FREE! Hawaii also needs more public swimming pools where children across the state can learn, Hannemann said. He grew up in Kalihi and said there are no public pools near the Kamehameha IV public housing project.
And people enjoying just watching the ocean who think they are safely on the beach can suddenly get swept out to sea by a rogue wave that reaches deep into the shoreline and pulls them out to sea. For tourists, Hannemann said airlines might want to consider showing inbound passengers a water safety video โ or one highlighting the dangers of the ocean โ as they fly to the middle of the Pacific.
North Shore waves were pumping at 30 to 40 feet the night of Jan. While the conference focuses on Waikiki, the problems and solutions are universal across the state for both residents and tourists, Hannemann said.
Honolulu remains one of the safest cities in the country, but high-profile crimes โ especially against tourists โ often grab headlines and go viral, putting the tourism industry in jeopardy, he said. Her 5-year-old daughter drowned Feb. This legislative session, companion bills in the House and Senate โ House Bill , HB , Senate Bill and SB โ would prohibit counties from permitting new retention and detention ponds and require the state Health Department to inspect existing ones across the islands.
