Downtown Honolulu, which is home to state and city government offices, major hospitals and serves as the primary business center, would be safe from the effects of a Category 3 hurricane, thanks to the buffer zone formed by Sand Island and Honolulu Harbor, Civil Defense officials said.

"We are pretty confident that the downtown area is going to be OK," said John Cummings III, O'ahu Civil Defense Agency spokesman. "Of course, it is still susceptible to wind damage and those type of issues."

Lynne Matusow, chairwoman of the Downtown Neighborhood Board, said with all the attention on the damage from Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi and Louisiana, and recent hurricanes and tropical storms in the Central Pacific, residents are concerned that the area could be vulnerable to flooding and storm damage.

"We are not sure if there is a flooding problem or evacuation plan, but there are lots of important things down here," Matusow said.

The extended downtown area stretches from Honolulu Harbor to Vineyard Boulevard, and from River to Punchbowl streets. It has a resident population of more than 10,000 people, according to the 2000 Census, but thousands more pour into the busy area every day to work.

Matusow said Nu'uanu Stream, which runs along River Street in Chinatown, would easily overflow with heavy rains, and many immigrants with limited English skills live in the area. This makes preparing for an emergency a necessity, she said.

"What are the safety procedures if we would have to evacuate?" she said. "Katrina is a wake-up call. Hopefully they will heed it."

Central Middle and McKinley High schools are the public hurricane shelters nearest to downtown. The tsunami evacuation map of the area shows the reef runway at Honolulu International Airport, along with Sand Island and islands in Keehi Lagoon, likely would be flooded during a natural disaster, but not downtown.

Cummings said the same map could be used for a Category 3 hurricane.

"Historically speaking, we have not had any major issues with downtown," Cummings said. "Speaking with our tsunami scientist folks, a tsunami surge in Honolulu Harbor should not exceed 2 or 3 feet, 4 max. We expect a storm surge model to be similar to that."

Cummings said there is no specific evacuation plan for a Category 4 or 5 hurricane, which he said has a "very rare chance" of happening.

Tom Smyth, who lives in Harbor Square condominium tower on Nimitz Highway, said downtown should hold up well in a storm.

"I think we are in pretty good shape given the quality of the structures downtown," Smyth said. "The older buildings are heavy and low, and the new ones are well-built. The older buildings in the Chinatown area are pretty sturdy and don't have big windows and frontage."

Smyth said even without an evacuation plan, downtown would be an easy area to move people out of quickly.

"We have multiple egress routes," said Smyth, who also is a neighborhood board member. "If there was a tsunami coming, you can walk up or police can contraflow traffic headed up to high ground, which is all you have to do in a tsunami. Or you can go straight up and vertical like in a Waikiki hotel. Three or four floors and you are going to be OK."

Burton White, artistic director and general manager at the Hawai'i Theatre, said he has been looking at the risks and evacuation plans for the historic facility.

"In light of the hurricane, we are looking at some of the things we have to prepare for," White said. "We've had an emergency plan for a long time. We are just taking another look at it and what type of damage the theater might sustain."

White said several historic theaters in New Orleans and Mississippi were damaged in the flooding there.

"There is a gradual rise from sea level as you walk toward the mountains from Nimitz," he said. "The theater would be safe."

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.