The rockslide was just one of the problems caused by heavy rains over O'ahu and Maui overnight.

On the North Shore, traffic was snarled this morning by two downed utility poles in Pupukea while heavy rains threatened some homes in Central O'ahu.

The storm moved off O'ahu and drenched Maui with more than 3 inches of rain in some areas over a six-hour period.

National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Farrell said the low-pressure system north of Hawai'i will produce intermittent showers, possibly heavy in some areas, on O'ahu today. In addition, surf of 10 to 15 feet from a storm that was previously Typhoon Babi will reach north and northwest facing shores at daybreak tomorrow, Farrell said.

Rockslide closed road

The 2:25 a.m. rockslide on the Waimanalo side of the Makapu'u Lookout forced the closure of Kalaniana'ole Highway between Kealahou Street near Sandy Beach to Bell Street at Kaiona Beach Park.

"There was a big pile of rocks in the middle of the road on the first bend after the lookout," said Patrick Flores, a state highways backhoe operator who had the roadway clear of debris by 7 a.m. "It took just a couple of loads. It wasn't enough to fill one truck load."

The highway remained closed at midday while a state geologist checked the slopes. State Transportation Department spokeswoman Marilyn Kali said loose rocks will be removed and she expected the highway to be reopened at 3 p.m. today. Traffic from Waimanalo to Hawai'i Kai was being diverted to Pali Highway and the H-3 Freeway.

The North Shore utility poles, which are owned by Verizon, fell onto Kamehameha Highway near Shark's Cove at 8:50 p.m. last night. Verizpon spokeswoman Ann Nishida said a rusted base caused one of the poles to fall. The falling pole struck and brought down the second pole, she added.

Nishida estimated the repairs would be finished by 5 p.m. today.

Firefighters responded today to several calls related to the rainy weather.

The most serious was at 94-7 8 Lumiauau Street in Waikele where a drainage ditch above a townhouse project was overflowing, Fire Department spokesman Capt. Kenison Tejada said.

Firefighters responded at 2:15 a.m. and found the ditch to be cluttered with debris from illegal dumping. Firefighters cleared the ditch and pumped out water before leaving the scene at about 4:30 a.m.

Farrell said the heaviest rainfall on O'ahu occurred in Waiawa (3.79 inches), Ahuimanu (3.77 inches) and Waipio (3.62 inches).

"It's not unusual for this time of year," Farrell said of the rainfall, "but we've had nothing on the Leeward side for about five months until now."

Weather caused small scattered outages overnight and one large one affecting 1,500 homes in the Kaimuki-Kapahulu area this morning, said Fred Kobashikawa, Hawaiian Electric Co. spokesman. That outage occurred between 7:13 and 7:28 a.m., he said.

Maui County schools closed

In Maui County, the storm forced officials to close Lahainaluna High School on Maui and Kilohana Elementary School on Moloka'i today because of flooding, but Civil Defense officials said they had not received any other reports of damage.

Maui Electric Co. suffered only minor outages despite repeated lightning strikes, said Operations Superintendent Herb Glassen. Only a few pockets in Kahului and Wailuku were without power this morning, he said.

A rain gauge in Kula measured 1.3 inches of rain in a 15-minute period ending at 7 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. In a six-hour period, Lahaina, Waikapu in Central Maui and Lana'i City were drenched with nearly 3.5 inches on rain, while Kihei and Mahinahina in West Maui reported nearly 3 inches. The rain continued to fall throughout the morning.

At Lahainaluna, mud from the library construction site washed into a science lab and the old library, and the school office was ankle-deep in water, said Vice Principal Lynn Kaho'ohalahala. She said a cleanup was under way and the campus should reopen tomorrow.