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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 8:29 a.m., Thursday, December 11, 2008

Flooding worst in Wahiawa, Waianae, Waialua, Laie, Hauula

Advertiser Staff

No serious injuries have been reported due to the bad weather so far, the city Department of Emergency Management said, but the fire department is busy responding to home flooding.

More than 40 requests have been made to pump out flooded homes since 8 a.m., but with the continuing rain the work is almost futile, said John Cummings, spokesman for emergency management.

"The hard thing right now is as they pump out the house it fills up again," Cummings said. "It's hard to get a handle on it until the rain stops."

Early this morning city crews from the Department of Facility Maintenance were out with shovels and picks clearing ditches in Waialua, Cummings said.

Emergency management has activated all of it volunteers to go out into the community to assess the situation, including flooding and road conditions, he said.

The heaviest areas of flooding are Wahiawa, Waianae, Waialua, Laie and Hauula, the same areas that were hit hardest in the March 2006 40-day rain, Cummings said.

The emergency management agencies also has called in the American Red Cross because of the flooding and possible need for shelters especially in Waianea, he said.

Police based in Wahiawa said that there were numerous stalled cars in their district, which runs from Wahiawa to Waialua to Sunset Beach. They were unable to confirm a report of a car that had run off the road.