The ferocity of the downpour that brought the latest Hawaii flooding surprised even meteorologists
HONOLULU– Crews began assessing damage Tuesday from a surprise downpour that brought floodwaters to a neighborhood near downtown Honolulu — the latest in a series of storms and flooding that have hit the state over the past two weeks.
Residents of Oahu’s north shore, famous for its big surfing waves, were recovering from the worst flooding to hit Hawaii in two decades when a storm Monday unleashed several inches of rain on the southern part of the island. Reddish-brown torrents gushed along roads in Manoa Valley, a few miles east of downtown Honolulu, sweeping away parked cars and flooding much of the neighborhood.
“I was shocked to see the extent of the flash floods in my area,” said Manoa resident Andrew Phomsouvanh, who recorded video of the streets transformed into a confluence of rapids. “The water continues to flow. »
Natalie Aczon went to the pharmacy Monday to pick up some medicine for her mother. By the time she left the store, about 15 minutes later, water was roaring down the street next to the mall.
“People came running from Longs and one of the guys said, ‘That’s my white car.’ “And it went up,” she said.
The ferocity of Monday’s downpours surprised even National Weather Service meteorologists. They knew that continued instability from a powerful winter storm system called the “Kona Low” could produce more rain, but their models aren’t good at predicting how much moisture can remain in such systems, forecaster Cole Evans said.
“When you think it’s over, it’s not quite over,” he said Tuesday.
The downpour, which dumped 2 to 4 inches (5 to 10 centimeters) of rain per hour, was very localized: A rain gauge in the upper valley recorded 6 inches (15 centimeters), while the airport a few miles away recorded only a hundredth of an inch (less than a millimeter).
The Kona Low was moving eastward, Evans said, and was not expected to pose any additional risk of outbursts like Monday’s. Flash flooding was in effect across eastern Maui.
There were no immediate reports of deaths or serious injuries, but authorities said hundreds of homes on Oahu’s north shore were damaged by last week’s flooding, which came as heavy rains fell on ground already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week earlier.
More than 230 people had to be rescued. The water pushed homes off their foundations, floated cars out of parking spaces and left walls, floors and countertops covered in thick, reddish volcanic mud.
Evacuation orders affected 5,500 people north of Honolulu, and some residents fled on surfboards as water reached their waists or chests.
Farms across the state reported more than $9.4 million worth of damage Monday, according to a survey by Agriculture Stewardship Hawaii, the Hawaii Farm Bureau and other organizations.
Even before Monday, Gov. Josh Green said the cost of the storm could exceed $1 billion, including damage to airports, schools, roads, homes and a Maui hospital in Kula. He called it the most severe in the state since the 2004 floods, when flooding in Manoa inundated homes and a University of Hawaii library.
Molly Pierce, a spokeswoman for the Oahu Emergency Management Agency, said that in addition to volunteers and officials doing the cleanup, a contracted company arrived to begin collecting, sorting and removing large piles of debris.
She called the storm system “extremely unusual,” but officials were cautiously optimistic Tuesday that the rains would end.
“Most of us haven’t seen something that continues like this,” Pierce said. “We feel like we’ll keep getting hit. But we’ll keep getting back up.”
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Johnson reported from Seattle. Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this report.
