Waikane flood traps motorists
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
WAIKANE — Firefighters rescued three people, including a couple in their 70s, after their cars stalled in fast-moving floodwaters on Kamehameha Highway last night.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
The flooding was the result of a downpour over parts of Windward O'ahu that closed the highway for more than two hours and prompted the closure today of Kahuku High & Intermediate School.
Rescuers head back to their truck after helping stranded motorists on Kamehameha Highway last night.
A flash flood warning for the area from Kualoa to Kahuku was in effect until at least early this morning, and the rest of the state was under a flash flood watch.
Three cars stalled on a small bridge between Waiahole and Waikane valleys about 8 p.m. and were in danger of being swept off the road by the thigh-high torrent.
Fire Battalion Chief Hiram Keliipio estimated that at its peak the flood water was about three feet high and moving at more than 20 mph.
"The water there was halfway up to the hood," Keliipio said of the elderly couple's car. "It was moving."
One man managed to walk to safety but a man in a small pickup truck and the elderly couple in a sedan could not get out of their vehicles.
Keliipio said fire rescue personnel felt the safest thing to do was to wait for the rain to subside, allowing the water to recede.
"We had difficulty walking up to that car. When we got there we felt the best thing to do was to leave them in place. We strung a safety line across the road in case any of us fell down.
"If you fell in the water, and came down the road, you had a 50-50 chance of coming over the bridge or getting sucked under the bridge, and if you went under the bridge, you were gone."
When the water dropped to about a foot, firefighters placed harnesses around the motorists, tethered them to rescue personnel and walked to safety.
Keliipio said the couple was smart to stay in their car and not attempt to battle the current. But, he said, had the rain continued, two vehicles were in danger of washing away.
The bridge closure shut down Kamehameha Highway from about 7:40 p.m. to shortly before 10.
Waikane resident Lydia Garcia, who has lived along Kamehameha Highway next to the bridge for more than 20 years, said it hadn't been raining that hard and she was surprised the road flooded. She said the problem is that a lot of silt under the bridge needs to be cleared.
Parts of O'ahu were battered by thunderstorms for a third straight day. Kahuku got 4.24 inches of rain in the 12-hour period ending at 8 p.m., while Punalu'u got 2.35 inches in that same period.
Flooding at Kahuku High & Intermediate prompted school officials to cancel school today. There were no other reports of schools affected by the weather.
