A Romeo Quiros of 48-874 Kamehameha Hwy. wades through his flooded yard after heavy rains last night caused flooding on the Windward coast. Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kamehameha Highway from Wahiawa to Hale'iwa was closed this morning for six hours because mud created slick conditions. Police closed Kamehameha Highway in both directions this afternoon after torrential rains caused flooding at the Waiahole Stream bridge.

Occasional heavy showers were expected to continue through tomorrow, with the weather improving by Wednesday, National Weather Service officials said. A flash-flood watch for O'ahu and Kaua'i was to remain posted until late tonight.

There were no weather-related deaths or injuries today, and officials tomorrow hoped to get a better idea how much damage the flooding caused.

Heavy rains forced Janet and Rudy Raguirag undercover at the Otake Store in Waialua today. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Rain was heaviest in Central and Windward O'ahu. The 12-hour rainfall total today from 2 a.m. to 2 p.m. included 6.83 inches at Waihee Station (in the Ko'olau, between Kane'ohe and Kualoa), 4.62 inches at Wilson Tunnel, 3.53 inches at Poamoho (near Wahiawa), 3.22 inches at Ahuimanu and 1.11 inches in Mililani.

Hilo and the Ka'u District on the Big Island suffered through a fourth day of rain today. In a 24-hour period that ended at 2 p.m., nearly 6 inches of rain fell over Hilo and Pahala. Worries about the wet weather led officials to close Na'alehu and Pahala elementary schools and Ka'u High School. A decision on whether the schools would reopen tomorrow would not be made until early in the morning, officials said.

On O'ahu, Waialua Elementary and Hale'iwa Elementary were both expected to reopen tomorrow.

Much of today's flooding in Waialua and Hale'iwa on the North Shore was linked to overnight rains in Central O'ahu and the North Shore that caused Lake Wilson, or the Wahiawa Reservoir, to flood over into Kaukonahua Stream and other waterways that run through both communities.

The hardest-hit area was the Otake Camp neighborhood off Kaupe Road in Waialua, a low-lying area located along Kaukonahua Stream. Floodwaters this morning forced 19 residents from the area, 12 of whom were airlifted out by fire and police helicopters. Otake Camp has about 15 homes and a total of 75-100 residents.

"I have only two inches to go," said Otake Camp resident Christy Brown this morning as she watched rising waters skim the top step leading into her home, which was supported on four-foot stilts.

Brown said she left for work at 7:20 a.m. and returned at 9 to pick up her cellular phone. That's when she saw the water about three to four feet high around the neighborhood homes.

"It was about waist-high," Brown said. "I waded back to my house to pick up things off the floor and turn off the electricity."

Marvin Schade, who operates a three-acre farm in the upper part of Otake Camp, was airlifted from the area by a fire helicopter after stream waters began to rise "a foot every 20 to 30 minutes" around 10 a.m.

"I think I lost everything," Schade said about his crop of cucumber, bitter-melon and chili pepper. Because his pet pit bull wasn't allowed aboard the helicopter, he tied the dog to a tree on higher ground.

"When the waters die down, I'm going back to look for her," he said.

The evacuees were taken to Waialua High School for hot meals and clothing.

Otake Camp residents were allowed back into their homes shortly before 3 p.m. today, according to O'ahu Civil Defense acting administrator Wayne Jones.

Jones said it was unclear how many homes at Otake Camp and around O'ahu were damaged by flooding.

"I think we'll have a better idea (tomorrow) on the damage," he said.

Jones said the level of Lake Wilson in Wahiawa rose six feet above the 80-foot spillway this morning after the torrential rains, leading to much of the Waialua flooding.

The rain caused an estimated 9,000 gallons of raw sewage to overflow at the Wahiawa Wastewater Treatment Plant today, spilling into storm drains and entering Lake Wilson. The spill was reported about 5:30 a.m. and was brought under control by 10, officials said.

Honolulu Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said fire helicopter crews also plucked six people and two dogs from a nearby farming area off Kaukonahua Road near Hukilau Loop.

"They were apparently trying to save some farming equipment when they got trapped," Soo said.

Fire crews in Pearl City also responded to two men trapped atop their vehicle near 749 Lehua Ave., Soo said.

The rains prompted the closure of Waialua and Hale'iwa elementary schools today. Waialua Elementary was closed because the campus is located next to a rising stream, and the Hale'iwa school was shut down because rainwater flooded a nearby cesspool.

About 550 Waialua Elementary students were bused to Waialua High, where they ate lunch and watched a "Little Rascals" movie in the school gymnasium while waiting for their parents.

On Maui and Kaua'i, the 24-hour rainfall totals at 2 p.m. today were much smaller and there were no reports of damage or flooding.

Jeff Powell, lead forecaster at the National Weather Service, said the rainy weather is linked to an upper trough above O'ahu and Kaua'i, and a surface trough below the islands.

"Right now both systems are causing a lot of instability, a lot of moisture," Powell said.