Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years as heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago, officials said Friday while warning that still more rain was expected during the weekend.
Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu's North Shore, a community world-renowned for its big-wave surfing. Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu. Authorities cautioned that a 120-year-old dam could fail.
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. Green said his chief of staff spoke to the White House and received assurances the islands would have federal support.
No deaths were reported and no one was unaccounted for. About 10 people were taken to a hospital with hypothermia, 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.
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.
Green said the flooding was the state's most serious since 2004 floods in Manoa inundated homes and a University of Hawaii library.
Dozens of homes were damaged Friday but officials haven't been able to fully assess the destruction, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said. Some 5,500 people were under evacuation orders. “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. Parts of Oahu received 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of rain overnight. Kaala, the island's highest peak, got nearly 16 inches (40 cm) in the past day, the National Weather Service said.
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. The intensity and frequency of heavy rains in Hawaii have increased amid human-caused global warming, experts say.
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