LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Ron Wiley, Kaua'i's Voice of Disaster, doesn't sleep much when crises arrive.

During the past week's fatal dam failure, islandwide flooding, mudslides and all the rest, he has been slipping into the KQNG radio studio between 2 and 4 a.m. each day, and staying on the air almost constantly until 10 p.m. — often running the studio alone.

For Wiley and for Kaua'i, it's a tradition. He did the same thing during 1992's Hurricane Iniki, staging marathon radio sessions that kept the community connected.

Civil Defense and police listen to his broadcasts — KQNG is the island's official Civil Defense emergency radio station — because he'll often take calls about where the rain is the worst, flooded streets, car accidents, downed trees that block roads, burst water lines and the rest before government officials do.

"It amazes me how he kicks into gear when stuff happens. You can't even put a value on it. Ron does an incredible job," said Beth Tokioka, the former county public information office who is currently director of Economic Development.

Wiley's folksy good humor calms angry citizens, cheers up depressed folks, applauds local heros, and chides the thoughtless folks he likes to call "boneheads" — like drivers who didn't slow down last week on flooded streets, repeatedly killing the pump motors working to drain them.

He takes calls by the hundreds, answering questions about what's open, which roads are closed, whether sports events are canceled, who to call to respond to the river flowing across the lawn and why someone isn't handling some crisis.

"They call him because people know that if they're getting the information on Ron Wiley, somebody's going to do something about it," Tokioka said.

Wiley has been in radio for 39 years, the past 17 of them at KQNG on Kaua'i, and it is clearly the only place he wants to be. In his studio, you see the body language that accompanies the animated baritone voice. He taps his feet to the music, scowls at reports of misbehavior and breaks into a huge grin when things go well.

He's multitasking all the time: answering phones, cueing up music, scrolling through listeners' e-mails, pinning printed Civil Defense alerts to a board under one of his several computer screens — one of which carries the regularly updated National Weather Service Web site.

His alter ego is broadcaster Marc Valentin, who works with him during the busiest periods and takes over at night when Wiley goes to grab some sleep. But as long as the disaster continues, Wiley can't seem to stay away more than a few hours.

"A caller called me a radio hog. I am a radio hog," he said, laughing.

Yesterday, Kaua'i Food Bank was feeding firefighters, police, public works crews, Civil Defense folks and other emergency workers, and director Judy Lenthall brought a plate of food to Wiley, too.

"He's certainly an emergency worker," she said.

Wiley is modest about what he does, although a fair proportion of his callers are simply calling to thank him. He jokes that all he does is answer the phone. "My role? Conduit," he said.

But it is clearly more than that. Mayor Bryan Baptiste said Wiley has a special way with people and with information.

"He helps calm people down. He doesn't raise the level of fear in people's hearts," the mayor said.

Wiley himself credits the Kaua'i community for responding heroically and in a neighborly way. He's just the booster.

"During this crisis, once again, phenomenal cooperation," he said.

Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com.