Town north of Honolulu evacuated as stream floods
HONOLULU— Catastrophic flooding from a stream swollen by heavy rains prompted officials to order evacuations from a town north of Honolulu on Tuesday, just one day after fears of a dam breach resulted in the same on the island of Maui.
The Honolulu Department of Emergency Management directed people to leave Haleiwa t own on Oahu's North Shore, an area famed for big-wave surfing, immediately.
Torrential rains have inundated parts of Hawaii for the past several days.
On Monday, officials initially thought that the Ka up aka lu a Dam in the Maui community of Haiku was breached by flood waters but county officials determined t here was no structural damage after closer inspection.
Those living near or below the dam were asked to continue evacuations until the all clear is given, county officials said Tuesday.
The National Weather Service reported that 13.2 inches (33.5 centimeters) of rain fell in the Haiku area of Maui's north coast between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Monday. Kauai and part of Oahu were under a flash flood warning. The entire state was under a flash flood watch amid heavy rains expected to last through Wednesday morning.
About six homes on Maui and two bridges were heavily damaged or destroyed, Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino's office said. He urged people to be vigilant because there were fears that landslides could happen.
“This has been unprecedented flooding, and we will be making damage assessments today,” Victorino said in a statement. “I ask everyone to stay vigilant and be safe.”
The Maui Fire Department said it responded to more than a dozen calls for help from residents trapped by rising waters.
Water flowed over the top of the dam's reservoir, but the dam itself did not fail, said Shan Tsutsui, the chief operating officer of Mahi Pono, a co-owner of the dam.
Officials monitored the reservoir overnight. County officials said water levels remained above normal, roughly 3 feet below the top of the dam.
One evacuation center remained open Tuesday for anyone needing shelter.
Vic tori no also urged tourists to stay in their hotel rooms or wherever they were staying.
Maui County spokesman Brian Perry said he did not know how many people lived downstream of the dam.
A state website says the earthen dam was built in 1885 and is 57 feet (17.4 meters) in height and 400 feet (122 meters) in length.
The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said the dam is scheduled to be removed this summer. The agency notified the dam's owners in February 2020 that it needed a water-level gauge with readings accessible on the internet and ordered the owners to keep the reservoir empty. The owners have done so, except during storms when water is passed through, the agency said.
East Maui Irrigation Company, which was created to divert water from streams to sugar plantations, owns the dam.