Heavy rain floods O'ahu

By Scott Ishikawa and Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writers

More rain is expected today after downpours deluged parts of O'ahu yesterday, forcing fire and police crews to rescue at least 30 people. Two North Shore schools were closed and a flooded Waialua neighborhood was evacuated.

Janet Raguirag and her husband, Rudy, struggled to stay dry as rain flooded Kaupe Road in Waialua yesterday. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

The rain is expected to continue today, with brief heavy showers and a chance of a thunderstorm, said National Weather Service lead forecaster Tim Craig last night.

"The ground can't hold any more water, so any additional heavy rain just runs off into the ocean, and that's obviously when you get flooding," Craig said.

The weather is expected to improve tomorrow.

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

Last night, firefighters rescued seven people in four cars stranded by rising water in Windward O'ahu.

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said the Waikane Stream overflowed onto Kamehameha Highway, making it impossible for cars to pass. A cell phone call from one trapped person was relayed to emergency officials.

After that rescue, the fire crew from the Kahalu'u station found itself stranded on the Kahuku side of the Waikane Stream bridge. Tejada said the firefighters did not want to risk driving through the flood waters and would wait until the water receded.

Hazardous conditions forced police to close Kamehameha Highway between Waiahole and Waikane valleys after 8 p.m.

Late last night, police and fire crews also were helping motorists caught in flood waters near the Punalu'u bridge in Windward O'ahu. Details were not available.

Rain was heaviest in Central and Windward O'ahu. The 24-hour rainfall total by 8 p.m. stood at 9.5 inches at Waihe'e Station (in the Ko'olau, between Kane'ohe and Kualoa), 6.75 inches at Wilson Tunnel, 5.91 inches at Ahuimanu, 4.19 inches in Waialua and 4.07 inches in Poamoho (near Wahiawa).

Frank Lawrence, an Otake Camp resident, placed his dogs in temporary kennels yesterday after rains flooded out their pens. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

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

Hardest hit was the Otake Camp neighborhood off Kaupe Road in Waialua, a low-lying area along Kaukonahua Stream. Flood waters yesterday morning forced out 19 residents, 12 of them airlifted by fire and police helicopters. Otake Camp has about 15 homes and 75 to 100 residents.

"I have only two inches to go," said Otake Camp resident Christy Brown yesterday morning as she watched rising waters skim the top step to her home, supported on 4-foot stilts.

Brown said she had left for work at 7:20 a.m. and returned at 9 to pick up her cellular phone.

She saw the water about 3 to 4 feet high around the 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 out by a fire department 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 of his crop of cucumber, bitter melon and chili pepper. Because his 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. yesterday, said O'ahu Civil Defense acting administrator Wayne Jones.

Jones said it was unclear how many homes were damaged by flooding. "I think we'll have a better idea (today)," he said.

He said the level of Lake Wilson in Wahiawa rose 6 feet above the 80-foot spillway yesterday morning after the torrential rain, causing much of the flooding in Waialua.

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

Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said helicopter crews 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.

Waialua Elementary School was closed yesterday because the campus is next to a rising stream, and Hale'iwa Elementary was shut down when rainwater flooded a nearby cesspool.

About 550 of the Waialua students were bused to Waialua High, where they had lunch and watched a movie in the school gymnasium while waiting for their parents.

Kamehameha Highway from Wahiawa to Hale'iwa was closed yesterday morning for six hours because mud created slick conditions.

On the Big Island, Hilo and the Ka'u district had a fourth day of rain. In the 24-hour period that ended at 2 p.m. yesterday, nearly 6 inches of rain fell on Hilo and Pahala.

Worries about the weather led officials to close Na'alehu and Pahala elementary schools and Ka'u High School yesterday. A decision was to be made this morning on whether the schools would reopen today, officials said.

Rainfall totals were much smaller on Maui and Kaua'i as of 2 p.m., and there were no reports of damage or flooding.

Staff writers Curtis Lum, Eloise Aguiar and Hugh Clark contributed to this report.