The storm closed the main Hawai'i Belt Road on the Big Island at two points.

Rain remains in today's forecast. Isolated heavy showers and thunderstorms were expected all day from O'ahu to the Big Island, according to the National Weather Service.

A small upper level low was to blame, but it was moving to the northeast.

"The moisture is moving up the chain from the Big Island, but the instability which we thought was over this morning is actually still around," said National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Farrell. "We will be watching it through today. Hopefully most of it will stay offshore."

Heavy rain fell on O'ahu this morning, but mostly over the Ko'olau Mountains and the Honolulu International Airport.

Kealakekua fire

Meanwhile, a stubborn fire at a Kealakekua storage facility in West Hawai'i forced officials to close a road and evacuate nearby businesses and residents. Firefighters early last night had not extinguished the blaze at the Kona Self-Storage building on Haleki'i Street.

The fire caused widespread damage to renters' property and was an inconvenience to neighbors.

The cause of the blaze, which was reported at 8:30 a.m., was not known.

Police said there was "severe damage, smoke and water damage" to about 80 units in the rental facility. Police said fire units had thought the blaze was out, but it rekindled yesterday afternoon and caused the worst of the damage. No one was hurt fighting the fire.

Firefighters last night remained at the scene to extinguish the blaze.

Road closed

In East Hawai'i, police and fire officials had to turn back motorists while crews tried to reopen the main Big Island circular route. Bruce Butts, assistant administrator of the Civil Defense Agency, said the Red Cross opened shelters at Clem Akina Park in Pu'u'eo and at Honomu Gym for stranded travelers.

The area from Laupahoehoe to Hilo was under a flash flood warning that ended at 8:30 p.m. yesterday.

State highway crews were trying to clear a major landslide at the 12-mile marker that had blocked the island's major north-south route.

There was another partial closure of the road near Kolekole Park at the 14-mile marker. Earlier in the day, the route was closed north of Honoka'a at Ahualoa by water rushing over the roadway.

The heavy rains extended from Waimea to Hilo but did not affect Puna or Ka'u, which had been damaged in three other storms this year. There were reports of thunder and lightning and of several radio stations being knocked off the air for a brief time.

Dick Mitsutani of the National Weather Service in Hilo said the storm dumped more than 2 inches of rain along the coastal area from Hilo to Laupahoehoe during a 16-hour period. Officials reported heavy runoff because the area had been saturated by earlier storms.

Yesterday's storm pushed the east side of the island's rainfall for 2002 to more than 2› times normal. The wet spell, however, follows three years of dry weather that hurt farmers and ranchers.