Hurricane 'Iwa struck the Hawaiian Islands 25 years ago next week Friday — Nov. 23, 1982. 'Iwa wasn't as powerful as 'Iniki 10 years later, but it produced widespread power failures and enough destruction — especially on Kaua'i — to make the storm a benchmark for natural disasters in Hawai'i's "modern" history.

'Iwa motivated local companies and agencies to rewrite emergency response plans, as we did at Hawaiian Electric Company. You can't go through a hurricane without learning some hard lessons.

Remembering events like hurricanes helps us assess whether those lessons are still helping shape emergency response. Unfortunately, many of 'Iwa's lessons were forgotten, judging from the chaos following the October 2006 Big Island earthquakes and islandwide power outage on O'ahu.

This personal remembrance of 'Iwa recalls what some of us learned then about the importance of proactive outreach to customers and citizens when a crisis strikes.

Twenty-five years ago, HECO's corporate communications staff had no experience with massive power outages; we knew only the smaller ones in neighborhoods or a community.

As 'Iwa's winds grew in intensity that evening, communications staffers Scott Shirai, Kevin Doyle and I were confident the lights would stay on in our Richards Street office. The Honolulu power plant was only three blocks down Richards, so what could go wrong?

As it turned out, lots. HECO lost power to 95 percent of our customers, and unless you lived close to the Waiau plant, you were in the dark.

Lesson No. 1 was driven home fast: Don't assume anything about an emergency, because your assumptions are likely to be proven wrong. We were so wrong we didn't even have candles or a flashlight in the office.

With only matches to help us dial, we managed a quick conversation with HECO President Dudley Pratt Jr., who was already in Load Dispatch at Ward Avenue. In his characteristically blunt style, he said something like: "We've had the **** kicked out of our transmission system. Tell the public what we know."

We tried to call KGU, the designated emergency broadcaster and only O'ahu station on the air thanks to its backup generator on the third floor of the newspaper building. We used the numbers in the phone book — the same numbers KGU's listeners were calling, too.

We couldn't get through. Repeated dialing produced busy signals, as one caller after another gave a first-person account of the storm. The last straw was a call from a boy in 'Aiea Heights who told all of O'ahu he had tied a kite to his mailbox. That did it. The only way to go on KGU's air was to drive to the station.

Lesson No. 2: You can't rely in an emergency on media phone numbers that are available to the general public. First-responders require unpublished numbers. Scott and Kevin continued trying to call the stations while I headed to KGU.

After a quick introduction, I went on the air with what we knew: "Eight out of 14 major transmission lines are out of service, severely crippling our system. Our crews are in the field and will begin restoring power where we can when it's safe. We're on the job and will keep you informed."

It wasn't much, but it apparently was enough for listeners sitting in the dark around portable radios who were desperate for information.

Lesson No. 3 was the key one: Emergencies require aggressive outreach to the public. Citizens need to know what's happening and will even be forgiving when the outreach is obvious.

HECO enjoyed tremendous community support after Hurricane 'Iwa for its dedication to restoring power as quickly as possible. Crews worked 20-hour days, and grateful customers gave many crews barbecued turkey with the trimmings two days later on Thanksgiving.

Although not comparable to HECO's work in the field, communicating with our customers while they were still in the dark had lasting results. People needed information during 'Iwa, and they've continued to express their appreciation throughout the years for receiving it that night.

Which brings us to today. Earthquake Sunday 2006 revealed that all three of the above lessons were lost over the years. Assumptions about the reliability of cellular telephones were wrong. First-responders complained they couldn't call radio stations because they didn't have unpublished numbers, and it took too long for authoritative information to reach citizens, who complained almost immediately.

Hurricane 'Iwa was a great learning experience, and we're continuing to appreciate its lessons. Hawai'i undoubtedly will face unanticipated challenges during future emergencies — and that may be reason enough to remember 'Iwa a quarter century later.

Doug Carlson is a Honolulu communications consultant. He worked in corporate communications for HECO in the 1980s. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.