HANAKAPI‘AI — Rescuers rushed to a stream in Hanakapai‘ai Valley to assist 37 hikers, including a family with a 10-week-old baby and a pregnant woman, who were trapped by high waters. Kaua‘i County spokeswoman Sarah Blane said Kaua‘i Fire Department
HANAKAPI‘AI — Rescuers rushed to a stream in Hanakapai‘ai Valley to assist 37 hikers, including a family with a 10-week-old baby and a pregnant woman, who were trapped by high waters.
Kaua‘i County spokeswoman Sarah Blane said Kaua‘i Fire Department rescuers transported seven hikers across the swollen stream to Ke‘e Beach by air, and 30 more hikers crossed on their own with the help of a rope line as water levels receded on the island’s North Shore.
Rescuers monitored as the hikers made their way back to the head of the trail on their own.
The seven airlifted to safety included an asthmatic male from Virginia, a pregnant Idaho woman and her husband, a woman from Texas, and a Utah couple hiking with their baby. All seven were released at the scene by medics, according to the county fire department.
The hikers were not part of one group, Deputy Fire Chief John Blalock said Wednesday. They were individuals or small groups that collectively encountered the rising waters.
“It wasn’t a tour group,” Blalock said. “It was just a bunch of people in the valley.”
One of the hikers sent a 911 call Tuesday around 5:45 p.m., and dispatchers alerted the fire department about several hikers trapped in Hanakapi‘ai Valley. The caller reported one hiker was asthmatic and in need of medication.
The fire department’s Rescue 3 unit flew into the valley aboard its Air 1 helicopter around 6 p.m.
They located 37 people stranded on the far side of the stream who were unable to cross due to high water.
Hanakapi‘ai Stream crosses an 11-mile path leading south from the northern edge of the Na Pali coast.
The 3.2-mile stretch the hikers were on runs from Ke‘e Beach to Hanakapi‘ai Beach with no alternate route.
Hanakapi‘ai Beach is the island’s deadliest, with 29 drowning deaths since 1970, according to the 2011 report, “Drowning Deaths in the Nearshore Marine Waters of Kaua‘i,” by Charles Troy Blay. High waves and strong currents run year-round, and winter months are especially dangerous, according to the report.
In light of the latest incident, the Kaua’i Fire Department is cautioning hikers to be aware of the weather and conditions before venturing out.
“We don’t want to discourage people from enjoying Kaua‘i’s natural beauty,” Kaua’i Fire Chief Robert Westerman said.
“But nature can be a dangerous place if you’re not prepared. So please, be prepared and stay safe.”
