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user2722yesterday at 9:04 PM3 repliesview on HN

It is truly tragic to see 5,500 people on the North Shore forced from their homes as the century-old Wahiawa Dam threatens to erase their livelihoods. One can only hope the evacuation orders were received in time to save what is most precious. Sentiment aside, this is a textbook case of a natural audit. The Wahiawa Dam is a 120-year-old stranded asset that should have been liquidated decades ago; instead, it was kept on the books as a "high hazard" liability while the state and Dole Food Company bickered over a $20 million repair bill. Governor Green’s $1 billion damage estimate is simply the market finally collecting on 20 years of deferred maintenance and mispriced risk. Those living downstream without private insolvency insurance were effectively shorting gravity, and the "Kona Low" just called their margin. If the dam breaches, it isn't a disaster—it's the violent, overdue restructuring of an obsolete irrigation system. Nature is the only regulator that doesn't accept a settlement.


Replies

datsci_est_2015yesterday at 11:31 PM

I like the way you write, fwiw.

GorbachevyChaseyesterday at 10:59 PM

So I guess the hacker news downvote police got after this one because it was actually informative? Am I reading this right?

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