The wicked winter storm that dumped over four inches of rain onto Hanalei and Wailua the past two days isn’t quite done with Kaua’i yet. And while the good news is that the low-pressure front that remained virtually stationary west
The wicked winter storm that dumped over four inches of rain onto Hanalei and Wailua the past two days isn’t quite done with Kaua’i yet.
And while the good news is that the low-pressure front that remained virtually stationary west of the island is forecast to move away to the west today, it will pull over Kaua’i with it clouds that drenched Maui and the Big Island yesterday, said Hans Rosendal, lead forecaster with the National Weather Service Honolulu forecast office.
County and state crews were kept busy filling potholes and keeping roadways clear of mud, rocks and other minor landslide debris, and cutting temporary ditches to channel standing water off roadways, while others assessed damage to both the first fairway and a controversial seawall at the county’s Wailua Golf Course.
A state crew got assists from local boaters in dismantling a huge floating island of debris that threatened not only Wailua River navigation, but posed a flood threat if it would have gotten lodged in the mouth of the river or the Kuhio Highway bridges over the river just mauka of the mouth.
“The garden island is green,” joked Rosendal. Though the flash flood watch ended yesterday, the island’s rivers and bays continue to run brown today. And more rain is forecast today for Kaua’i, with some locally heavy showers, he said.
Yesterday along the Wailua River, the island of debris stretched nearly three-quarters of the way across the river at one of its widest sections, threatening to clog the rivermouth as it ambled downstream toward the Kuhio Highway bridges.
State Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Boating and Ocean Recreation officials, assisted by private boaters, secured the floating mass of tree trunks, buffalo grass and sundry other items, and systematically disassembled it before it could cause flooding problems for businesses and residences along the river.
Nearby, the Lydgate Park swimming beach was littered with debris, most suspected to have come out of the Wailua River. The Wailua area had over four and a half inches of rain in the 48-hour period that ended at 2 p.m. yesterday, Rosendal said.
Interior portions of the island, closer to Mt. Wai’ale’ale, one of the wettest spots in the world, generally got more rain than coastal areas, he said.
A portion of the first hole of the Wailua Golf Course was claimed by the ocean yesterday, as high winds combined with high surf in the morning swept seaward a portion of the fairway, including parts of a controversial seawall the county erected to protect the layout from further erosion damage.
Across the island, state and county road crews braved continued rains to patch potholes, remove mud and rocks from small landslides, and dig temporary ditches to relieve roadway flooding.
Hanalei is at the super-saturated point, having received nearly eight inches of rainfall since Sunday.
“It’s definitely wet in Hanalei,” said Maka’ala Ka’aumoana, program director of the Hanalei Heritage River Program.
The river rose repeatedly Monday, prompting officials to close Kuhio Highway on both sides of the one-lane bridge over the river for the night at 7 p.m., she said.
Banana trees and other vegetation big and small fell victim to the combination of drenching rains and high winds on the north shore, she added. The river and bay both continue running brown, she said.
The gusty winds are expected to remain on the island for the next couple of days, with Thursday seeing the beginning of clearing weather that should mean a sunny weekend, Rosendal said.
For the 48-hour period ending at 2 p.m. yesterday, Koke’e State Park got nearly two inches of rain, Hanapepe, Wainiha and Kapahi saw over three inches of the wet stuff, and Anahola, Lihu’e, Kalaheo and ‘Oma’o all received over two inches of rain, most of it coming overnight beginning Monday evening, he said.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
