Posted on: Saturday, November 6, 2004
WEATHER
More rain expected to drench Islands
By Suzanne Roig
Advertiser Staff Writer
Don't expect to see the sun until Monday.
That's the word from weather forecasters, who say that O'ahu and Kaua'i will continue to get a soaking from a weather system that is hovering to the northwest.
A total of 147 families had homes damaged by heavy rains in Manoa Valley last weekend, and they filled out requests for assistance from the Disaster Assistance and Recovery Center set up for two days this week at the Manoa Park gym.
The signup concluded yesterday.
Civil Defense teams continued surveying damaged buildings yesterday, but will not reopen the center unless more flooding occurs.
If additional people need assistance, they may call State Civil Defense at 733-4301, O'ahu Civil Defense at 523-4121 or Aloha United Way's 2-1-1 Information and Referral line. In Manoa, where nearly 10 inches of rain fell a week ago, causing flooding that led to millions of dollars in damage to homes and the University of Hawai'i, residents were keeping a wary eye on Manoa Stream. Last night, the water level rose and then fell several times over the evening. The 24-hour rainfall total for the area was 1.57 inches at 8 p.m.
"I'm not nervous right now," said Arthur Leal of the Manoa Liquor Store on East Manoa Road. "It's coming down, but it doesn't seem to be as bad as last week," he said yesterday evening. "We'll see what happens if it starts to come down harder."
The rain knocked out power for about an hour to about 900 customers in Kaimuki, Ward Avenue and to parts of Kapi'olani Boulevard, said Lynne Unemori, Hawaiian Electric Co. spokeswoman.
Thunderstorms will remain in the forecast for at least another day as an unstable air mass continues to move over O'ahu and Kaua'i today, said Bob Farrell, National Weather Service lead forecaster. A flash flood watch means that flash flooding is possible, but not imminent.
"It's moving along well from the southwest," Farrell said. "Mostly the weather system is over water, (the) main band is over Kaua'i Channel, so we're pretty lucky."
Not even the normally arid Leeward Coast was spared. The Wai'anae Coast was soaking wet yesterday as the rains poured throughout the morning and afternoon. Wai'anae received 3.12 inches of rain in the 24-hour period ending at 8 p.m. yesterday.
Lifelong residents could recall just a handful of times when it had rained as hard. Parking lots resembled swimming holes. Water cascaded off rooftops, and runoff swept over the edges of roadways. Passing trucks and buses sent mammoth roostertails of water over sidewalks and unlucky passersby.
Beaches were vacated and gusting winds rendered umbrellas nearly useless. Drenched pedestrians scrambled to bus stop shelters.
Honolulu police and fire departments as well were keeping a watchful eye, but reported no serious weather-related problems. Some side roads off Farrington Highway, such as Lualualei Homestead Road next to the Wai'anae 7/11 store, were under 4 to 6 inches of water.
By 8 p.m. yesterday, other 24-hour rainfall totals included 3.38 inches at Makaha Ridge; 3 inches at Koke'e, Kaua'i; 2.77 inches in Kunia; 2.45 inches at Honolulu Airport; and 2.27 inches in Hawai'i Kai.
Rush-hour traffic slowed to a crawl as commuters slogged home with limited visibility. Numerous fender-benders were reported, but no major accidents, according to police.
Staff writer Will Hoover contributed to this report. Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com or 395-8831.
Yesterday's rain came down steadily — heavily at times — dropping more than 3 inches of rain in places and soaking pedestrians, causing scattered power outages and slowing pau hana traffic. A flash flood watch was in effect until this morning for both O'ahu and Kaua'i.
Manoa families sign up for aid
