HONOLULU (CN) – After a slow-moving storm lingered over the Hawaiian Islands for nearly six days – flooding communities, breaking rainfall records and knocking out power to more than 130,000 homes and businesses – the state is still assessing the damage.
Molly Pierce, Public Information Officer for the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management, said her office has shifted its focus from nearly two weeks of storm preparation to assessing the damage — a critical step toward potentially qualifying for federal disaster aid. Residents are asked to photograph and report all storm damage, even if they are not sure it rises to the level of a formal claim.
“Sometimes we take care of things ourselves and that’s phenomenal,” Pierce said. “But what happens sometimes is that we don’t have as much awareness from the government side of what’s going on.”
Despite the reappearance of some sunny skies, forecasters warned that prolonged rain is expected until midweek. With the ground still fully saturated, even modest rainfall could cause further flooding in the coming days, adding an infrastructure toll that officials are still working to calculate.
Local courts on Oahu were closed Monday after rainwater seeped into courthouses, and a major freeway ramp remains closed all week. On the Big Island, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park remained closed due to power outages and flooding. Hana High School and Hana Elementary School in Maui were left without power.
The culprit was and low Konaa low pressure system that periodically changes typical Hawaiian weather patterns.
Under normal conditions, the trade winds blow steadily from the east, keeping the windward sides of the islands moist while the leeward sides remain relatively dry. A Kona low spins it, and it barely moved, driving deep tropical moisture toward the islands for days.
“Dry sides become wet sides, vice versa,” said Cole Evans, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu. “So it can create more of a flood threat across the drier sides, and then the wind threat becomes more amplified as it flows down the mountain on the windward side.”
Pierce said a low Kona of this magnitude was rare but possible in a state long accustomed to tropical storms.
“There are just some hard, hard truths about living in this beautiful country,” Pierce said. “We also have to deal with some of the less beautiful parts that come with it.”
Records were broken on every island
On Friday alone, Honolulu recorded 5.51 inches of rain, breaking an existing daily record stood since 1951. On Kauai, Lihue recorded 5.47 inches, more than double its previous one-day record, set in 2006.
Preliminary five-day total showed Upcountry Maui leading the statewide list with 44.37 inches. Mauna Loa on the Big Island recorded 25.45 inches. On Oahu, gauges at Schofield Barracks and Kamananui each approached 20 inches.
Wind gusts reached 78 mph near Schofield Barracks and reached 75 mph along the Kona coast. On the Big Island peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, winds topped 100 mph along with blizzard conditions and up to 20 inches of snow. By Friday morning, the cameras at NASA’s telescope facilities on Mauna Kea were covered in ice.
Maui’s long, narrow, and steep topography concentrated the storm’s force in ways that spared the flatter islands. Homes in West Maui were damaged by rapidly rising floodwaters. The road to Hana on the eastern end of the island was destroyed, trapping dozens of residents who had to be evacuated to a shelter. Landslides, sinkholes and downed power lines left communities isolated for days.
Friday morning, four people and a dog was blocked on bridge pier platforms near Kaimuki High School as floodwaters rose rapidly around them before a rescue by Honolulu firefighters. Additional rescues were carried out, including five people who were trapped in a stream bed under overpasses in the city.
The storm too overturned Oahu’s sewage infrastructure at three separate points. And near Kailua Beach Park on the west side, raw sewage flooded a residential lane at least 10 inches deep, backing up through plumbing and seeping through the walls of ground-floor apartments, forcing at least one family to evacuate an elderly resident.
Health officials are urging people to avoid affected streams, ponds and coastal waters until testing confirms they are safe.
Twelve days of preparation
On Oahu, emergency managers had been preparing for nearly two weeks before the storm hit. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green declared a state of emergency ahead of the maximum impacts, and Pierce said her office began coordinating calls with city, state and nonprofit partners roughly 12 days before conditions worsened.
“I didn’t come home during the day for eight days straight,” she said.
That lead time allowed officials to prepare resources and reach vulnerable populations, especially the homeless community, in ways that faster-moving storms rarely allow. The city opened seven emergency shelters. At the height of the storm, more than 100 people were taking shelter in them.
By Monday, six had been closed, with one remaining open at Kaneohe County Park for residents of a flooded kauhale community of shared housing waiting for floodwater to be pumped out of their homes.
One of the most alarming moments came on Saturday when the water levels in Wahiawa Reservoir began to rise towards the maximum capacity of the dam. Officials suspended an evacuation order but closely monitored the situation throughout.
“We would be having a very different conversation now if it turned into a flood situation,” Pierce said.
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