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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Sunday, March 17, 2002

Post-sugar land changes may be cause of flooding

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HONOMU Hawai'i — As residents cleaned up from this month's sudden drenching in this former plantation town, old-timers wondered if the dire effects were more because of the nature of the storm or the changes on the Hilo coast since the demise of sugar production.

As truckloads of gravel were being thrown at flooded areas, residents talked of the downpour March 5 and 6 that damaged four homes and caused a landslide that isolated the town of 541 people for 19 hours — and how the death of sugar figured into all of that.

The flooding was the worst in more than 30 years, said Jude Mattos, president of the Honomu Community Association and its steady lobbyist, pointing to how much the land has changed since sugar production ended in 1996.

"Absolutely, it's all different now," he said.

Former cane haul roads are no longer cared for, ditches that once diverted floodwater don't get the maintenance they once did, and erosion and runoff have increased.

All are factors that might have aggravated the effects of the storm, residents said.

The storm was indeed a big one. The National Weather Service estimated rainfall at 2 to 4 inches across the area, but John Cross, who lives a few miles north at Hakalau, said he got more than 12 inches of rain on his property in a few hours.

When a landslide blocked Hawai'i Belt Road — the island's major north-south route — amid the downpour, some residents left their cars and trudged through the muck and water, walking home in knee-deep runoff. Some northbound motorists went the 12 miles south to Hilo to stay with friends or slept in their cars.

Some who knew of the old cane haul roads struggled to get home on them, taking it slowly on the deeply rutted, pothole-marked roadways.

Others eventually got home, thanks to a decision by banana farmer Richard Ha to open the gates to his 440-acre operation above town.

"Everyone has to keep in mind this is not a highway but an old-fashioned country road with lots of deep potholes" said Ha.

Mattos said the town needs to attract the attention of federal and county officials to get help controlling erosion.

That won't be easy, since the Natural Resources Services, previously known as the federal Soil and Water Conservation Service, is not an enforcement agency and has to be invited to advise farmers on how to prepare fields to avert flooding, he said.

The county's Public Works Department has enforcement powers under a seldom-used grading ordinance, but spokesmen there said they usually respond to complaints before taking any action.

Meanwhile, talk turned to how diversified farmers — ornamental plant, dryland taro, ginger and sweet potato growers — have altered land use. Such row crops allow for greater runoff, said Cross of Mauna Kea Agronomics.

"The new farmers are part of the problem," said Elizabeth Logsdon, who operates a glass bottle collecting shop.

Retiree Erin Jungden, who has lived in Honomu for 23 years, shunned talk of land use in favor of roads in the wake of a closure that affected thousands of motorists and backed up traffic for miles in both directions.

In the event of future problems on Hawai'i Belt Road, he said, "an orderly bypass is needed for all of us."