KALIHIWAI — A road has appeared connecting residents at the end of Kahiliholo Road to Kuhio Highway through private property after the recent heavy rains of Kauai caused a sinkhole and split Kahiliholo Road in half.
It’s part of the county’s emergency response, and Charles and Vi Herbert, who live at the end of Kahiliholo Road, are happy their mailman has access to their house once again.
“We have power and we have water,” Charles Herbert said. “Actually, we have a lot of water. Too much water.”
Though torrential rains flooded much of the island, Herbert said he and his wife were lucky because they are on a hill on the edge of the cliff overlooking the river. Their garage was slightly flooded and the lightning that cracked throughout the storm didn’t hit the trees around their single-story house.
“It sounded different depending on how close it was. Sometimes it was a bang, other times we heard a loud snap,” Herbert said. “But we’ve been cut off from internet and newspaper and mail delivery, cut off from services.”
They were cut off, that is until the county was able to open up a dirt and gravel road through private property that connects Kahiliholo Road to Kuawa Road near Common Ground.
Wednesday, Herbert was on a mission to make the existence of the new, temporary emergency relief road known to everyone, especially the post office and internet providers.
“Who knows how long that sinkhole will be there,” he said. “The road’s in tact, but there’s a 30-foot drop on either side. It’s really something to see, but we can’t get around it.”
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Jessica Else, environmental reporter, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
