Hauula home falls victim to rain-swollen stream
Advertiser Staff
Shon Ka�ana�ana knew it was going to happen; it was just a matter of when.
In Hau�ula, a 400-square-foot section of the home in which Ka�ana�ana had been living hung precariously in mid-air on Friday, after the embankment beneath it was cut away by the rain-swollen waters of Kaipapa�u Stream.
Ka�ana�ana, 41, said the house would go down if the rains didn�t stop. His prediction came true in the middle of the night.
�It fell in the river about 3 o�clock this morning,� said Ka�ana�ana, who was standing in the yard about 20 feet away when the home�s living room and bedroom fell. �I was waiting for the thing to fall. I could barely hear it because the river was roaring so loud.�
Ka�ana�ana said he then called his sister, who owns the house, to tell her it had collapsed. The news didn�t come as a surprise.
�We knew it was going to happen,� he said. �So, we were prepared.�
John Cummings, with the city and county Department of Emergency Management, said officials were initially concerned that the collapsed structure would cut off the river�s flow.
�We were just worried about it blocking the stream and making matters worse,� said Cummings. �But the fire department personnel on the scene assured us that that was not the case.�
Apparently the house landed on the river bank, he said.