Almost a year after two earthquakes rattled the Islands and knocked out electricity for hours, government agencies, utilities and media outlets say communication should be much improved in future emergencies.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Transportation said it has completed most of its repairs to quake-damaged roads, is readying to repair two damaged Big Island piers and has brought in equipment to keep the airports powered.

The Hilo and Kahului airports now have emergency power equipment for 100 percent of their needs, while Honolulu has brought in enough generators to keep planes in the air.

As a longer-term solution, the state airports division is working with Hawaiian Electric Co. to have a diesel generating system that would provide nearly complete power at Honolulu International Airport during outages.

The Big Island bore the brunt of the physical damage during the magnitude 6.7 earthquake on Oct. 15, while O'ahu suffered an islandwide blackout that lasted for hours.

In response, Gov. Linda Lingle created a comprehensive communications committee, which brought together civil defense and other government agencies, media and telecommunications companies to figure out how to get word to the public more effectively in a similar situation.

Yesterday, the committee met to talk about progress.

State Civil Defense has made strides in its efforts to make information more accessible, updating the emergency alert system plan and designating part of its Diamond Head facility for the media. In addition, the state is working to make sure that the emergency broadcasts are accessible to those who speak foreign languages or use sign language.

Meanwhile, media outlets big and small talked about how they plan to get the messages out to the public, many adding or upgrading generators and installing simple land-line phones or satellite phones as an alternative to cell phones. Only 20 percent of broadcast outlets were able to remain on the air during the power outage.

As to whether HECO could avoid an islandwide outage in the future, Unemori said: "That is always our goal. Certainly we will do everything possible to try to avoid a major outage, any kind of outage at all, certainly an islandwide outage, but it is absolutely impossible for us to guarantee there will never be another islandwide outage."

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.