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Over 4,000 told to evacuate flooding in Hawaii as officials warn 120-year-old dam could fail
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The Associated Press
Streets are flooded from severe rains Friday in Haleiwa, Hawaii.
Streets are flooded from severe rains Friday in Haleiwa, Hawaii.
The National Guard and Honolulu Fire Department airlifted 72 children and adults who had been attending a spring break youth camp at a retreat on Oahu's west coast called Our Lady of Kea'au, according to city and camp officials. The camp is on high ground but authorities didn't want to leave them there, the mayor said.
"Just pray for us," she said. It was reconstructed following a collapse in 1921.
The state has sent Dole four notices of deficiency about the dam since 2009 and five years ago fined the company $20,000 for failing to address safety deficiencies on time, according to records.
Afterward, Dole proposed to donate the dam, reservoir and ditch system to the state in exchange for the state's agreement to repair the spillway to meet and maintain dam safety standards.
The state passed legislation in 2023 authorizing the dam's acquisition. It also provided $5 million to buy the spillway and $21 million to repair and expand it to comply with dam safety requirements. But the transfer has not been completed. A state board is due to vote on the acquisition next week.
"The dam continues to operate as designed with no indications of damage," Dole said in an emailed statement.
The state regulates 132 dams across Hawaii, most of them built as part of irrigation systems for the sugar cane industry, according to a 2019 infrastructure report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
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− Mengshin Lin/AP hide caption
HONOLULU — Muddy floodwaters from severe rains inundated streets, pushed homes off their foundations, swallowed vehicles and prompted evacuation orders for thousands of residents in towns north of Honolulu on Friday as officials warned of the possible failure of a 120-year-old dam.
+ Mengshin Lin/AP hide caption
HONOLULU — As Hawaii endures its worst flooding in more than 20 years, officials are urging people in hard-hit areas to "LEAVE NOW." The warning early Saturday came after heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago. Still more rain was expected during the weekend, officials said.
− Emergency sirens blared along Oahu's North Shore, where rising waters damaged homes in a community world-renowned for its surfing.
+ Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu's North Shore, a community world-renowned for its big-wave surfing.
− Honolulu officials told residents Friday morning to leave the area downstream of Wahiawa dam — long known to be vulnerable — saying it was "at risk of imminent failure."
There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, but some homes had been swept away, said Ian Scheuring, a spokesperson for Honolulu.
+ Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu.
− Crew searched by air and by water for people who had been stranded — efforts that were hampered by people flying personal drones to get images of the flooding, he said.
+ Authorities cautioned that a 120-year-old dam could fail. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning early Saturday with light to moderate showers expected to turn heavy in some places.
+ Gov. Josh Green said the cost of the storm could top $1 billion, including damage to airports, schools, roads, people's homes and a Maui hospital in Kula.
"This is going to have a very serious consequence for us as a state," Green said at a news conference.
Most of the state was under a flood watch, with Haleiwa and Waialua in northern Oahu under a flash flood warning, according to the National Weather Service.
"Residents in the Waialua area are strongly urged to LEAVE NOW," an emergency alert said early Saturday. "The remaining access road out of Waialua is at high risk of failure if rainfall continues."
Green said his chief of staff spoke to the White House and received assurances the islands would have federal support.
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Dozens — if not hundreds — of homes had been damaged but officials have not been able to fully assess the destruction, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in an afternoon news conference.
+ Mengshin Lin/AP hide caption
No deaths were reported and no one was unaccounted for.
− Some 5,500 people were under evacuation orders.
+ More than 200 people have been rescued, officials said. About 10 people were taken to a hospital with hypothermia, he said.
− "There's no question that the damage done thus far has been catastrophic," he said.
+ Crews searched by air and by water for people who had been stranded — efforts that were hampered by people flying personal drones to get images of the flooding, said Ian Scheuring, a spokesperson for Honolulu.
− Blangiardi said officials felt confident in the stability of the dams on the island, but that it was hard to predict how much rain would come and what it might do.
− Kimberly R.Y. Vierra, a spokesperson for St. Francis Healthcare System of Hawai'i, which owns the retreat property in west Oahu, said floodwaters had cut off the entrance road to the camp.
+ Green said the flooding was the state's most serious since 2004 floods in Manoa inundated homes and a University of Hawaii library.
− On Maui, officials issued an evacuation advisory for some Lahaina neighborhoods after nearby retention basins neared capacity.
+ Dozens — if not hundreds — of homes were damaged Friday but officials haven't been able to fully assess the destruction, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said.
− Parts of those neighborhoods were burned by the massive wildfire that destroyed much of Lahaina in 2023.
+ Some 5,500 people were under evacuation orders.
− Streets are flooded from severe rains Friday in Haleiwa, Hawaii.
+ "There's no question that the damage done thus far has been catastrophic," he said.
Officials blamed some of the devastation on the sheer amount of rain that fell in a short amount of time on saturated land.
− Mengshin Lin/AP hide caption
Officials have been watching dam levels since a storm last week dumped heavy rain across the state, which led to catastrophic flooding that washed away roads and homes.
+ Parts of Oahu received 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of rain overnight.
− After the worst of it, a similar but weaker storm was forecast to bring more rain through this weekend.
+ Kaala, the island's highest peak, got nearly 16 inches (40 cm) in the past day, the National Weather Service said.
− "It's going to be a very touch-and-go day," Hawaii Gov.
+ More rain was expected: Blangiardi said 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) of rain was forecast to fall on Oahu in the next two to three days.
Winter storm systems known as "Kona lows," which feature southerly or southwesterly winds that bring in moisture-laden air, were responsible for the deluges in the past two weeks.
− Josh Green said in a social media post.
+ The intensity and frequency of heavy rains in Hawaii have increased amid human-caused global warming, experts say.
− Most of the state was under a flood watch, with Haleiwa and Waialua in northern Oahu under a flash flood warning, according to the National Weather Service.
+ Officials have been closely watching the Wahiawa dam, which has been vulnerable for decades, saying it was "at risk of imminent failure."
Water levels in the dam — about 17 miles (28 kilometers) northwest of Honolulu, on the island of Oahu — receded by late Friday but that could change if more rain falls.
− One shelter at Waialua High and Intermediate School was evacuated because of flooding, Scheuring said.
+ Streets are flooded from severe rains Friday in Haleiwa, Hawaii.
− There were about 185 people and 50 pets there who needed to be bussed to another evacuation center, but by midday 54 people still remained in the shelter.
Parts of Oahu received 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of rain overnight, further saturating the ground after the storm last weekend.
+ Mengshin Lin/AP hide caption
Overnight into Friday, the dam went from 79 feet to 84 feet (24 to 25.6 meters) — just 6 feet (1.8 meters) shy of what it can handle, authorities said.
− Kaala, the island's highest peak, got nearly 16 inches (40 cm) in the past day, NWS said.
Winter storm systems known as "Kona lows," which feature southerly or southwesterly winds that bring in moisture-laden air, were responsible for the deluges.
+ After peaking at more than 85 feet (26 meters), the water level had dropped by early Saturday to 81.5 feet (24.8 meters), according to the U.S.
− The intensity and frequency of heavy rains in Hawaii of have increased amid human-caused global warming, experts say.
+ Geological Survey.
− As she prepared to evacuate to a friend's home on higher ground, Waialua resident Kathleen Pahinui told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the aging Wahiawa dam is a concern every time it rains.
+ As she prepared to evacuate to a friend's home on higher ground, Waialua resident Kathleen Pahinui told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the aging dam is a concern every time it rains.
− "We understand there's more rain coming."
The state has said the dam has "high hazard potential," and that a failure "will result in probable loss of human life."
The earthen dam was built in 1906 to increase sugar production for the Waialua Agricultural Company, which eventually became a subsidiary of Dole Food Company.
+ "We understand there's more rain coming."
The state has said Wahiawa dam has "high hazard potential," and that a failure "will result in probable loss of human life."
The earthen dam was built in 1906 to increase sugar production for the Waialua Agricultural Company, which eventually became a subsidiary of Dole Food Company.