Over 5000 residents asked to evacuate; 120 yr old dam at risk of failing: Hawaii experiences worst flooding in 20 yrs

Hawaii was hit by its most worst flooding in over two decades after intense rainfall soaked ground that was already waterlogged from a winter storm the previous week, officials said on Friday, warning that more rain was likely over the weekend. Thick, muddy floodwaters covered large parts of Oahu’s North Shore, an area famous worldwide for big-wave surfing. Powerful currents swept up homes and vehicles and led officials to issue evacuation orders for 5,500 residents north of Honolulu. Authorities also warned that a 120-year-old dam was at risk of failing, according to AP. Nearly all of Hawaii was under a flood watch, while Haleiwa and Waialua on northern Oahu were placed under a flash flood warning, according to the National Weather Service. Governor Josh Green said the storm’s damage could exceed $1 billion, with impacts to airports, schools, roads, homes, and a hospital in Kula on Maui. "This is going to have a very serious consequence for us as a state," Green stated. Green said his chief of staff had spoken with the White House and was assured that federal assistance would be available for the islands. He also said there had been no reported deaths and no missing persons, though around 10 people were hospitalised for hypothermia. Rescue teams searched for stranded residents by air and water, but their work was disrupted by people flying personal drones to capture footage of the flooding, said Honolulu spokesperson Ian Scheuring. The National Guard and Honolulu Fire Department airlifted 72 children and adults from a spring break youth camp at Our Lady of Kea'au, a retreat on Oahu’s west coast, according to city and camp officials. Although the camp sits on higher ground, officials decided it was safer not to leave them there, the mayor said. Green said the flooding was Hawaii’s worst since the 2004 Manoa floods, which swamped homes and a University of Hawaii library. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said dozens, and possibly even hundreds, of homes were damaged on Friday, though officials had not yet been able to determine the full extent of the destruction. He said, "There's no question that the damage done thus far has been catastrophic.” Officials said the scale of the damage was partly due to the enormous amount of rain that fell in a very short time on already saturated ground. Some areas of Oahu saw 8 to 12 inches of rain overnight, while Kaala, the island’s highest peak, received nearly 16 inches in the previous 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. More rainfall was still on the way. Blangiardi said Oahu was expected to get another 6 to 8 inches over the next two to three days. The flooding over the past two weeks was caused by winter storm systems known as Kona lows, which bring moisture-rich air with southerly or southwesterly winds. Experts say climate change driven by human activity has made heavy rainfall in Hawaii both more intense and more frequent. Officials were also monitoring the Wahiawa dam closely, warning that it faced an immediate risk of failure. Although water levels had dropped by late Friday, they could rise again with additional rain. Between overnight hours and Friday, the dam’s water level increased from 79 feet to 84 feet, leaving it just 6 feet below capacity, authorities said. Waialua resident Kathleen Pahinui told AP by phone that the old dam becomes a major source of worry every time heavy rain hits, as she got ready to evacuate to a friend’s home on higher ground. She mentioned, "Just pray for us, We understand there's more rain coming." According to a 2019 infrastructure report from the American Society of Civil Engineers, Hawaii regulates 132 dams statewide, most of which were originally built to support irrigation systems for the sugar cane industry. (With inputs from AP) Garvit Bhirani is a journalist based in Gurugram. He is a Deputy Chief Content Producer at LiveMint, where he covers national and international news stories, focusing on accuracy and compelling storytelling for readers. <br><br> With a total of six years of experience in journalism, he has previously worked with Vaco Binary Semantics for Google, taking on the role of news curation lead, and reported from the field on health, education, and agriculture stories for 101reporters and News9. He has also served as a content editor for entertainment and news media organisations. <br><br> Garvit holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism and mass communication from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University and Gurugram University, respectively. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. <br><br> He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. <br><br> He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. <br><br> He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X