flash flooding in hawaii

[tropicana]

Weather Service Issues Flash-Flood AdvisoryKITV-TV

Updated: 5:48 p.m. ET Jan. 02, 200412:45 p.m. HST January 2, 2004 -

Heavy rains made for hazardous conditions across Oahu Thursday and Friday and forecasters expect more heavy rains to come.

The National Weather Service issued flash-flood watches for Oahu and Maui County Friday morning. The islands received steady rains over the past few days. Forecasters predict more heavy rains to hit the islands throughout Friday and into the evening. They also said there is a chance of heavy rains lasting into Sunday.

24-Hour Rainfall Totals (as of 11 a.m.):

Lanai:

Lanai City 8.71 inches

Molokai:

Kaunakakai 8.27 inches
Makapulapai 7.02 inches
Kamalo 5.71 inches
Molokai Airport 4.20 inches

Maui:

Mahinahina 7.18 inches
Lahainaluna 5.14 inches
Kahakuloa 4.92 inches
Kaupo 3.16 inches
Wailuku 2.56 inches

Oahu:

Waimanalo 2.88 inches
Wilson Tunnel 2.65 inches
St. Stephens 2.42 inches
Ahuimanu Loop 1.75 inches
Schofield 1.77 inches
Palisades 1.97 inches
Moanalua 1.93 inches

Police directed traffic away from two rockslides Thursday night. One of the rockslides was on Diamond Head Road and another on Kaneohe Bay Drive.

The bad weather also contributed to a number of downed utility poles and a rescue in a drainage canal.

A passerby called for help after seeing a man lying in this drainage canal near a Pearl City cemetery. "We found him pinned against the sidewall we managed to stabilize him and get him on a backboard and get him to ground level," Honolulu Fire Department Battalion Chief Manuel Neves said.

Rescue crews said the 43-year-old man suffered only minor injuries, although he appeared disoriented. He claimed to have been walking in the canal when he was swept down the ditch by a flash flood.

With Thursday's unpredictable conditions, rescuers said the man might have been swept out to Pearl Harbor.

In Kunia, a one-car crash forced the closure of the road fronting the Hawaii Country Club. Traffic in both directions had to be diverted until power could be cut and crews could respond to the scene.

Police said the crash in Kunia was caused when a car lost control and sideswiped a utility pole. Police arrested the driver for suspicion of drunken driving.

Shortly after that crash, patrol officers were called to another downed pole, this time on Fort Weaver Road. Police said a truck swerved into the median to avoid hitting a car that was making an illegal u-turn. The truck hit a light pole instead.

Hawaiian Electric Co. said its crews responded to three separate reports of down power poles and that was just before noon Thursday.


-justin-