In a pitch to nearly 100 condominium resident managers yesterday, O'ahu Civil Defense urged them to consider a county certification program that identifies which interior rooms and hallways are safe places to ride out a hurricane or other natural disaster.

But the program — which could help ease the critical shortage of emergency shelter space on O'ahu — has been on hold for much of the past year. County civil defense officials are waiting for their state civil defense counterparts to come up with new criteria to determine which rooms, hallways and other interior spaces are safe, said Peter Hirai, plans and operations officer for O'ahu Civil Defense.

State and O'ahu civil defense officials yesterday said the program should resume sometime next month.

Ever since Hurricane Katrina underscored the need for emergency shelter space in cities nationwide, civil defense authorities in Hawai'i have been trying to find ways to reduce the statewide shortage of 124,000 shelter spaces.

It is estimated that O'ahu is 60,000 spaces short and authorities worry what would happen during a major disaster. State Civil Defense told The Advertiser earlier this week that private shelters could reduce the shortfall by 20 percent.

The private shelter program has been around for several years as a joint effort between state and county civil defense authorities on every island. About 200 hotels, condos and elderly care homes were previously certified on O'ahu, but no new agreements have been reached in the past year, Hirai said.

"We're working with the state," Hirai said after his presentation. "We're not fighting with the state."

Resident managers who attended the program yesterday were keen to learn more about it, but there were some who expressed frustration at having made repeated calls to O'ahu Civil Defense for information and never having those calls returned.

Ron Komine, resident manager for Banyan Tree Plaza, told his colleagues that it took him two years to get his certification in 2003.

"This is not an easy task," he said.

But Komine said it was worth the effort.

"Bottom line: My residents love this," he said, waving his signed certification agreement.

Civil defense officials believe that creating an emergency shelter in a condominium would appeal to residents who would otherwise have to brave traffic jams and crowded, unfamiliar settings.

But Sherree McKellar, a vice president of Certified Management, which represents 417 homeowner associations, said the program is not widely known. And until the city and the state agree on new criteria, she won't push the idea among the residents she represents.

"Until we can get some criteria from somebody, there is nothing we can tell them," she said. "As soon as I know that, I will tell them."

She said she has been waiting since last November, when she called O'ahu Civil Defense.

"I was told they were working on the criteria," she said.

Yesterday, Ed Teixeira, state Civil Defense vice director, told The Advertiser that he plans to meet later this month with O'ahu Civil Defense officials to clear up any confusion surrounding shelter certification criteria.

"I think we can hammer that out in less than a month and get going," he said.

The new criteria came out of a state report released late last December. It recommended a structural analysis of state shelters but also urged the state to consider using a similar review for private shelter facilities, Teixeira said.

He acknowledged there may have been communication problems between the state and county about what was going to be done and sought to remedy it this week by organizing a meeting.

"The use of the private shelter program will reduce our emergency shortfall and protect more people," he said. "So we have to keep plowing ahead."

Teixeira said an ideal shelter is in a reinforced concrete structure away from exposed areas and glass, such as stairwells, enclosed hallways and interior dining rooms. Even some parking garages have the potential to offer safety.

"These are good spaces to weather out a storm," he said. "These could be interior spaces without exposure to the outside walls where you might have flying glass."

Reach Mike Gordon at mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.