Some residents are demanding the city improve drainage at Kailua Beach Park after Ka'elepulu Stream overflowed into nearby homes during the rainy season's first big storm.

With more rain forecast, residents say they expect a quick resolution.

"We've been complaining about this problem since 2002," said Chuck Prentiss, Kailua Neighborhood Board vice chairman. "We've been wanting the whole drainage situation from the Lanikai side of the park to Buzz's (restaurant) to be corrected."

City officials said they will investigate what caused Sunday's flooding, city spokesman Bill Brennan said yesterday.

"Intense heavy rain sometimes causes flooding in the area, where there is a very limited natural runoff capacity to handle the 10-plus inches of rain in a short period of time," he said.

O'ahu had plenty of sunshine yesterday, though a flash flood watch remained in place for O'ahu, Kaua'i and Ni'ihau through last night.

Strong rain cells were southwest of the Islands late last night, moving north but weakening, National Weather Service meteorologist John Bravender said. That weather system could bring heavy rains, though probably not thunderstorms, he said.

"The question is whether they will hold together before they reach the Islands," he said.

Parts of Kailua and Waimanalo had an inch or more of rain yesterday, but most of the island had light rain.

The storm should clear out by the end of today and typical trade wind weather should return by tomorrow.

The weather service also issued a high-surf advisory for all south-facing shores through 6 a.m. today.

Kailua, which caught the brunt of Sunday's deluge, saw 15 to 20 homes with flooding on Kawailoa Road, plus overflowing manholes and sewage spills from Keolu Drive and Hele Street to the Marine base.

The American Red Cross, Hawai'i Chapter, which helped flood victims Sunday, said there were four homes that had significant water damage inside. Volunteers drove through Waimanalo yesterday to make sure that they didn't miss anyone in need of assistance.

Residents who live near Kailua Beach Park said $1.5 million worth of park improvements changed the flow of runoff during heavy rain. When the project was built, the city filled in part of a drainage ditch that ran along the Kawailoa Road to make way for a bike path, residents say. Since it was filled in, the community has suffered flooding, said Sara Anslow of Iana Street.

Compounding the problem is the constant buildup of sand at the mouth of Ka'elepulu Stream. The city routinely brings in bulldozers to clear the stream's mouth.

"We don't have as much issue with the drainage ditch, but it's the canal blockage that stops the flow of water into the ocean," said Anslow, whose husband dug a trench early Sunday so the stream could flow to the sea.

Donna Wong, another Kailua Neighborhood Board member, said requests to study the drainage are brought up month after month by residents.

SEWAGE SPILLS

The heavy rain also led to sewage spills.

The U.S. Navy reported Sunday night that an estimated 1.97 million gallons of wastewater entered storm drains leading to Pearl Harbor.

The heavy rain caused a power surge around 8 a.m., causing the wastewater collection system's main lift station to go offline. Two manhole covers were displaced and wastewater spilled into nearby storm drains at Shipyard Dry Dock No. 4, and at the intersection of South Avenue and Lake Erie, the Navy said.

Navy personnel also said that Wastewater Lift Station No. 1 was offline and immediately corrected the problem, bringing it back on line about 1:30 p.m. The area around the two manholes was cleaned.

Signs warning of contaminated water have been posted along the Navy and Hickam Air Force Base waterfront, from Dry Dock No. 4 to the Hickam Officer's Club.

The affected areas are within the secured Department of Defense fence line, the Navy said.

Water samples were taken Sunday and yesterday near the two storm drains that carried the wastewater into the harbor. Samples will continue to be taken until there is no further evidence of the wastewater spill, the Navy said. The warning signs will remain posted until tests show that water has returned to normal.

Overflowing storm drains in Kailua on Keolu Drive and Hele Street caused the discharge of 11,200 gallons of sewage into Ka'elepulu Stream, and more than 2,000 gallons of sewage overflowed from a Marine Corps Base Hawai'i pump station into Kane'ohe Bay Sunday morning.

Road crews were still clearing storm debris yesterday at the Waikane Bridge.

One lane was closed during the afternoon as crews cleared the debris from the Waikane Stream beneath the bridge to prevent further flooding.

PHONE PROBLEMS

There were also lingering phone problems yesterday.

About 100 Hawaiian Telcom customers in Kailua and Lanikai continue to have storm-related telephone problems, but service was restored yesterday morning to nearly all of the 70 customers in Nanakuli who lost service.

But the work to replace two telephone cables in Kailua town that suffered water damage will probably take longer, spokeswoman Ann Nishida said.

A recorded Hawaiian Telcom message warned Kailua customers that service could be disrupted until Friday.

"It's very unlikely it will take that long," Nishida said. The work to repair two cables "will be weather permitting when we can work it. But we have to give the worst-case scenario."

Hawaiian Telcom officials on Sunday said that only 19 customers lost service in Kailua "but it's become a bigger problem," Nishida said. "Not everybody is out of service. Some might be having staticky service."

Three Regal Cinemas theaters suffered minor water damage on Sunday at Windward Mall and closed temporarily, mall spokeswoman Sherrie Coronas said.

Although waves of up to 16 feet were predicted for Sunday night into yesterday morning on O'ahu's south shore, the actual wave faces were 6 feet to 10 feet yesterday morning. However, few people went surfing because of poor conditions, said Bryan Cheplic, spokesman for the city's lifeguards.

South shore beaches also experienced the remnants of Sunday's monthly box jellyfish influx, Cheplic said.

Problems were mostly electrical on the Neighbor Islands. On the Big Island, most areas received less than 2 inches of rain in the 24 hours that ended at 8 a.m. yesterday.

Hawai'i Electric Light Co. reported problems from falling trees that cut power to 3,000 customers from Papa'ikou to Honoka'a, and severed service to another 1,500 customers in the Hawaiian Ocean View Estates and Ranchos areas Sunday night. Falling trees in South Kona also caused "isolated power problems" Sunday evening.

Power to all but a handful of customers was restored by yesterday morning, the utility said.

HELCO also reported power was cut to about 4,000 customers at 4:49 p.m. Sunday when a generator at the Hamakua Energy Partners plant tripped offline unexpectedly. Service was restored within a few minutes, and the cause of the failure is under investigation, HELCO said.

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.