FORD ISLAND — As Myanmar tries to recover from the cyclone that devastated the Irrawaddy delta and killed more than 100,000 people, the U.S. military yesterday prepared for the possibility that a similarly powerful hurricane could someday pass over O'ahu.

Makani Pahili 2008 ("strong wind" in Hawaiian), is an annual exercise directed by U.S. Pacific Command focusing on how the military would help the state recover from a hurricane.

The state next week will practice its own response plan to such an event. The central Pacific hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30.

In this week's two-day exercise, a Category 4 hurricane, with winds of 155 mph and storm surges up to 15 feet, passed over the center of O'ahu.

"You've got to imagine displaced civilians by the thousands, homes that have been devastated — especially in the low-lying areas," said Army Lt. Col. Ed Toy, director of Joint Task Force Homeland Defense.

U.S. Army Pacific at Fort Shafter is the "executive agent" for the U.S. Pacific Command joint task force, whose mission is to help Hawai'i and other mid-Pacific islands prepare for and recover from hurricanes and other disasters.

The military set up a series of green Army tents in the shadow of the old control tower on Ford Island to serve as the "deployed" command and control center for this year's exercise.

Generators provide power and a 16-foot satellite dish makes communication possible. About 40 service members were at Ford Island and about 300 total from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines participated elsewhere in the Island in the exercise, which ends today.

MILITARY HELP

In 1992, Hurricane Iniki raked Kaua'i with winds of more than 140 mph, killing three people, injuring 100 and destroying or damaging more than 6,000 homes. The Category 4 hurricane, which caused $2.6 billion in damage, also brushed past O'ahu.

Yesterday, as part of the exercise, three days had passed since the fictitious storm hit O'ahu.

"Currently, there hasn't been a significant need for military personnel to come to Hawai'i from the Mainland," Toy told reporters in a big geodesic tent where military personnel sat at tables working on laptop computers.

"It's more capability — generators, bottled water, blue tarps, things of that nature that will be in high demand," he said.

The state last year used a scenario for planning purposes in which a hurricane hit Pearl Harbor, Honolulu International Airport and parts of downtown Honolulu, causing at least $25 billion in damage — mostly on O'ahu — and 72 deaths around the Islands.

This year's exercise is a continuation of that script.

HURRICANE PROJECTION

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center on Monday is expected to release its hurricane projection for this season in conjunction with a national forecast.

Jim Weyman, director of the hurricane center, yesterday said projections for the hurricane season are not issued for a particular region — like Hawai'i — prior to the national release because futures markets can be affected by the reports.

Toy said the national response framework that's now in place wasn't there when Hawai'i experienced Hurricane Iniki in 1992.

"The coordination of lots of capability was fragmented," said Toy, who spent 30 days on Kaua'i as a National Guardsman helping cover damaged homes with blue tarps.

Capt. John Jolliffe, a Navy officer out of San Diego who has been involved in real-world relief and training exercises on the Mainland, mostly in California, said the Makani Pahili exercise is proceeding as he'd expect.

"There's quite a bit of confusion as you might expect at the onset, but you work through it, and right now, the level of situational awareness is pretty good, the (communications) are pretty good," Jolliffe said.

Jolliffe said the best thing Hawai'i residents can do is to keep three days of food and water on hand for emergencies.