Cleaning up time

WAILUA — Monday was supposed to be the first day of school following spring break for Samantha Pa, a third grade teacher at the Kawaikini New Century Public Charter School.

Instead of distributing “enhancement” material for education, Samantha was helping her mother Anela Pa of the Ho‘omana Thrift Store that was a victim of flooding caused by heavy rain and thunderstorms, Friday night into Saturday morning.

“One of her students’ parents owns a Bobcat,” Anela said. “They spent the morning scraping mud off the parking area. This was mud washed down Wailua River and covered the parking lot as well as the adjoining Wailua River State Park Kaumuali‘i Area.”

Anela, clad in rubber boots, was assessing some of the damage caused by flooding from the weekend rains, indicating the need for a bigger garbage disposal bin.

“This is the worst I’ve seen,” she said, indicating the height of the flood waters marked by the debris line that teased the window sills. “The night watchman — he has a loft higher than the floor — was startled around 1 a.m., Saturday when the waters started coming. It was already ankle deep, and he started unplugging everything.”

“By the time he was through, it was already waist deep,” Anela said. “He waded through that in pitch darkness, and by the time he reached the front door, it was already chest-high. He made his way to the service station and started calling some of the neighboring businesses.”

Nathan Wood of Nathan Wood General Contractor whose business is located behind Ho‘omana Thrift Store said he was with the watchman at the service station. He, too, suffered some damage from the flood, spending his Monday with his crew moving out equipments and supplies to dry before moving it to another warehouse.

“We need a bigger disposal bin,” Anela said. “Pretty much, everything chest-high is soiled, dirty, and we know we need bigger. The sad thing is that just before the flood hit, we got a donation from Regency and had just set up everything. Now, look at this.”

She said the county leaders were having an assessment meeting to discuss the Wailua area that was hit hard by flood waters, Monday and would let her know what happens following that meeting.

“I’ve got volunteers calling, wanting to come and help, but things need to be safe,” Anela said.

Ho‘omana Thrift Store is a nonprofit organization that helps the emotionally, mentally, and physically challenged and physically disabled by partnering with them to go after opportunities to reach their full potential. The thrift store is a training site for individuals in job-transferable skills that can be applied to future employment, life skills, financial literacy, and personal growth and development.

Another volunteer operated his Bobcat to clear more mud and debris that clogged the water’s edge of Wailua River.

“My house is up the road where the Opaeka‘a Stream bends,” he said against the backdrop of machinery hammering away at the logjam at the Wailua Bridge that was limited to two-way traffic on just the Bryan J. Baptiste Bridge on the makai side of the river. “It got flooded, and I can’t do anything more so I’m just helping some of these other people.”