LIHU‘E — Thanksgiving travelers hoping to celebrate the holiday with friends and family were delayed Thursday morning after six inches of overnight rain forced the closure of the Hanalei Bridge and caused other traffic problems. For the 12-hour period ending
LIHU‘E — Thanksgiving travelers hoping to celebrate the holiday with friends and family were delayed Thursday morning after six inches of overnight rain forced the closure of the Hanalei Bridge and caused other traffic problems.
For the 12-hour period ending at 2 p.m. Thursday, the automated U.S. Geological Survey rain gauge adjacent to the Hanalei River measured 5.23 inches of rain, according to the National Weather Service Web site.
That steady rainfall and runoff had consequences on the ground, resulting in “hazardous road conditions in some parts of the island,” according to a county press release.
Police dispatch announced at 5:13 a.m. that the Hanalei Bridge was closed due to a flash flood warning issued by the National Weather Service. The bridge was re-opened at 1:19 p.m., four minutes after the warning expired.
The height of the Hanalei rain gauge peaked at nearly 10 feet just before 6 a.m. Thursday, according to data on the USGS Web site. Officials have said in the past that the Hanalei Bridge closes when the gauge reaches seven feet.
The wet weather came less than two weeks after a heavy winter storm parked itself over the island, dealing nearly $1 million in damage to the county’s water system, closing the Hanalei Bridge for more than 24 hours, forcing numerous evacuations and diverting the Hanalei River, threatening taro operations.
The river’s discharge peaked at 13,500 cubic feet — more than 100,000 gallons — per second at 5:30 a.m. Thursday, an increase of some 17,000 percent from the discharge rate of just 75 to 80 cubic feet per second that had been flowing for the entirety of Wednesday, USGS data shows.
The average discharge rate for the past 16 Nov. 26s has been 272 cubic feet per second. The rate peaked at more than 20,000 feet per second on Nov. 13, data shows.
Elsewhere on Kaua‘i, a gauge in Kapahi measured 5.87 inches of rain for the 12-hour period ending at 2 p.m. Thursday. Hauaala Road in Keapana, on the island’s Eastside, was closed due to flooding, and in Kalaheo a 500-pound boulder fell on Waewae Road, making it impassible, the county release states.
Heavy ponding was reported on the Kapa‘a bypass road, Kuamo‘o Road in Wailua Homesteads by the S-turns, and at the junction of Weliweli and Ala Kinoiki Roads in Koloa, the press release states.
• Michael Levine, assistant news editor, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or mlevine@kauaipubco.com.
