Search Articles
HONOLULU (CN) — After a slow-moving storm stalled over the Hawaiian Islands for nearly six days — flooding communities, shattering rainfall records and knocking out power to more than 130,000 homes and businesses — the state is still tallying up the damage.
Molly Pierce, Public Information Officer for the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management, said her office has shifted focus from their nearly two weeks of storm preparation to damage assessment — a critical step toward potentially qualifying for federal disaster assistance. Residents are being urged to photograph and report all storm damage, even if they are unsure it rises to the level of a formal claim.
“Sometimes we just take care of things on our own, and that’s phenomenal,” Pierce said. “But what happens is sometimes it means that we don’t have as much awareness on the government side of what’s going on.”
Despite the reemergence of some sunny skies, forecasters warned that lingering showers are expected through midweek. With the ground still thoroughly saturated, even modest rainfall could trigger further flooding in the days ahead, adding to an infrastructure toll officials are still working on calculating.
Local courts on Oahu were shuttered Monday after rainwater entered court buildings, and a major highway off-ramp remains closed throughout the week. On the Big Island, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park remained closed due to power outages and flooding. Hana High and Elementary School on Maui remained without power.
The culprit was a Kona low, a low-pressure system that periodically reverses Hawaii’s typical weather patterns.
Under normal conditions, trade winds blow steadily from the east, keeping windward sides of the islands wet while leaving leeward sides comparatively dry. A Kona low flips that, and this one barely moved, funneling deep tropical moisture toward the islands for days.
“The dry sides become the wet side, vice versa,” said Cole Evans, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu. “So that can create more of a flooding threat across the dry sides, and then the wind threat becomes more amplified as it flows down the mountain into the windward side.”
Pierce said a Kona low of this magnitude was rare, but feasible in a state long accustomed to tropical storms.
“There are just some hard, hard truths about living in this beautiful place,” Pierce said. “We also have to deal with some of the less beautiful parts that come with it.”
Records shattered across every island
On Friday alone, Honolulu recorded 5.51 inches of rain, breaking a daily record that had stood since 1951. On Kauai, Lihue recorded 5.47 inches, more than double its previous single-day record, set in 2006.
Preliminary five-day totals showed Upcountry Maui leading the statewide list at 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 topped 75 mph along the Kona coast. On the Big Island summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, gusts exceeded 100 mph alongside blizzard conditions and up to 20 inches of snow. By Friday morning, cameras at NASA telescope facilities on Mauna Kea were coated in ice.
Maui’s tall, narrow and steep topography concentrated the storm’s force in ways flatter islands were spared. Homes in West Maui were undermined by fast-rising floodwater. The road to Hana on the eastern tip of the island was washed out, stranding dozens of residents who had to be evacuated to a shelter. Landslides, sinkholes and downed power lines left communities isolated for days.
On Friday morning, four people and a dog became trapped on bridge pillar platforms near Kaimuki High School as floodwaters rose rapidly around them before a rescue by Honolulu firefighters. Additional rescues were conducted, including of five people who became stranded in a stream bed beneath overpasses in town.
The storm also overwhelmed Oahu’s wastewater infrastructure at three separate points. And near Kailua Beach Park on the westside, 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 arrived. Hawaii Governor Josh Green declared a state of emergency ahead of peak impacts, and Pierce said her office began coordination calls with city, state and nonprofit partners roughly 12 days before conditions worsened.
“I didn’t get home in daylight for eight days straight,” she said.
That lead time allowed officials to pre-stage resources and reach vulnerable populations, particularly the homeless community, in ways faster-moving storms rarely permit. The city opened seven emergency shelters. At the height of the storm, more than 100 people were taking refuge in them.
By Monday, six had closed, with one remaining open at Kaneohe District Park for residents of a flooded shared housing kauhale community waiting for floodwater to be pumped from their homes.
One of the more alarming moments came Saturday when water levels at Wahiawa Reservoir began rising towards the dam’s maximum capacity. Officials stopped short of an evacuation order but monitored the situation closely throughout.
“We would be having a very different conversation right now had that turned into a flood situation,” Pierce said.
Follow @JeremyYurowSubscribe to our free newsletters
Our weekly newsletter Closing Arguments offers the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world, while the monthly Under the Lights dishes the legal dirt from Hollywood, sports, Big Tech and the arts.