February-March 2006: Heavy rain falls for seven weeks before the dam breach. During those 42 days, 111 flash flood warnings are issued for locations in Hawai'i.

March 14: A 200-foot-wide breach of the earthen dam before dawn unleashes almost 400 million gallons of water in the worst natural disaster on Kaua'i since Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Seven people die: Aurora Fehring, 24; her husband, Alan Dingwall, 30; the couple's child, 2-year-old Rowan Fehring-Dingwall; Christina Macnees, 22; Macnees' fiance, Daniel Arroyo, 33; Wayne Rotstein, 49; and Timothy Noonan, 37. All seven had been sleeping in houses on the Fehring property that were washed away.

The flash flood also uproots homes, explodes power transformers and leaves dozens of trees bobbing in the ocean.

March 15: Kaua'i County launches an investigation into whether homes and other structures lost in the flood were properly permitted and were built outside the flood zone.

March 16: State attorney general's office opens a broad investigation. The office issues subpoenas to the Mary N. Lucas Trust and Jimmy Pflueger, owners of the land on which Kaloko Reservoir sits.

March 17: Gov. Linda Lingle asks the Legislature for an emergency dispersal of $14.3 million to cover the cost of storm recovery. A computer model shows that as the water roared through the steep valley, it was 20 feet deep and moving at up to 20 mph. Where the land flattens, the flood broadened, thinned to 10 feet and slowed to 10 mph. After it crossed Kuhio Highway, it picked up speed and depth.

March 19: A memorial service is held for the victims.

March 20: Engineers launch an unprecedented inspection of Kaua'i's 54 reservoir dams, going in by foot, four-wheel-drive and helicopter.

March 24: State and federal crews use radar surveying equipment to map Kaloko Dam — including an area described as its spillway. The spillway — and whether it has been altered — emerges as a central issue.

A damage assessment finds that more than 50 homes on Kaua'i suffered damage as a result of the rain and dam breach. Of those, two were destroyed and four sustained major damage.

May 2: President Bush declares a major disaster in the spring floods, which qualifies Hawai'i for federal disaster relief. The state estimates that damage from the dam failure and severe flooding on Kaua'i and O'ahu could exceed $50 million.

May 10: Disclosed records show a joint state-federal report issued in 1984 identified problems with the structural stability of Kaloko Dam and estimated the cost of repairs at $1.9 million. No records have been found that show repairs or any other follow-up were conducted.

Jan. 9, 2007: An independent civil probe into the Kaloko Dam disaster concludes that the dam probably failed because its emergency spillway had been covered.

March 11, 2008: Two O'ahu engineering firms employed by Jimmy Pflueger for work on his Kaua'i property that includes Kaloko dam were sued in connection with dam failure. They are accused of failing to "take appropriate actions to correct a 1997 grading violation — including removal of material that covered the spillway, and/or notifying the county of the precise area filled in 1997, including the spillway."

July 21-22, 2008: A special grand jury convened by the state attorney general in the case meets on Kaua'i.

This week: Witnesses testify before a second grand jury looking into potential criminal charges against Pflueger in the dam breach.

Today: A Kaua'i grand jury indicts Pflueger on criminal manslaughter and reckless endangerment charges. The secret panel charged the 82-year-old Pflueger on seven counts of manslaughter for altering the dam, contributing to the deaths.