Not many satellites, or radar. I was on Maui for the January 1980 storm, still have never seen continuous rain and wind like that in all the years I've lived here. The storm took out Kihei Road down by Sudas, power was out, and one poor fella was killed out windward side Maui, Haiku I think, when he tried to add some diagonal bracing under his house during the storm. There are still remnants of the storms powerful surf at Kamaole 1, if you look south a bit, on the point between Kamaole 1 and 2, there is a concrete slab, small one, hanging on the rocks. That USED to be the slab for an outdoor shower that was on what USED to be the lawn. The Mana Kai was fishing boulders out of their swimming pool after the storm was pau, and to this day you cannot walk all the way to Wailea on the beach. Worst thing about it all, was being stranded in Kihei, the power being out for over three days, and being forced to drink warm beer.
OpenD would not have survived
When I paddle past Keawakapu beach in the morning, and see all the relatively new mansions sitting side by side and as close to the water as they are allowed to be, I can't help but smile. Another storm like the one in 1980, and those homes are going to need bilge pumps.
And the car washed out by the 'river' running by Sudas, a Mercedes Benz. It's still out there, past the old pier. That was some fun stuff, a while back, but fun none the less.