Sunny skies returned and a flash-flood watch was canceled yesterday after heavy rains that drenched parts of the state over the weekend, forcing the evacuation of more than 20 people on O'ahu. However, residents were spared significant damage and no injuries were reported.

Honolulu police, firefighters and O'ahu Civil Defense officials went door to door at the Otake plantation camp in Waialua Saturday night asking residents to leave as the heavy rain caused the stream behind the camp to rise rapidly. More than 20 people were evacuated at 9:50 p.m., according to O'ahu Civil Defense spokesman John Cummings.

About 14 people waited out the rain for more than six hours in the cafeteria of Waialua High School, where the American Red Cross provided meals, cots and blankets, Cummings said. More than a dozen others sat or slept in their cars.

"The fear isn't 'The dam is going to break,' the fear is the water level would rise and inundate the homes," Cummings said. "It was the ideal evacuation, we're happy with how it worked out."

Rain fell intermittently throughout the state Saturday, and downpours drenched areas of O'ahu late Saturday night and early yesterday morning.

The uplands of O'ahu saw the most rain, according to Peter Donaldson, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, while rising waters forced the closure of the Hanalei bridge on Kaua'i.

Upper Nu'uanu Valley received more than 8 inches of rain over the 24-hour period ending at 2 p.m. yesterday, and the area around Mount Wai'ale'ale on Kaua'i got more than 10 inches. Mililani got almost 6 inches of rain and Waiawa more than 3 inches.

"It could have been worse but it really was quite a bit of rain from Friday through Saturday," Donaldson said. "I know people who had water in their houses so they weren't too happy about that, and if you were at the football game you were probably unhappy."

The Honolulu Fire Department responded to 17 water-related calls from 8 a.m. Saturday through 8 a.m. yesterday. Six of those were in Nu'uanu and five in Mililani.

Most were calls for light flooding that soaked carpets in homes, said HFD Capt. Emmit Kane. No serious injuries were reported.

Flash-flood warnings were issued Saturday night for O'ahu and Kaua'i, and a flash-flood watch remained in effect for O'ahu until 4 p.m. yesterday.

On O'ahu, heavy rainfall spread along the Ko'olau Range to the Nu'uanu and Kane'ohe areas and people reported flash flooding fear Wahiawa, as rain fell at rates of more than 3 inches per hour in parts of Central O'ahu, the National Weather Service said.

Heavy rain over central Kaua'i caused a rapid rise in the Hanalei River and a flash-flood watch was in effect for Ni'ihau until early yesterday. A flash-flood watch for Maui County and the Big Island was canceled Saturday afternoon.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.