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Dam breaks on Kauai, strong winds, rain down 12 poles on Oahu

An earthen dam on Hawaii’s island of Kauai burst without warning on March 14. Three people have been confirmed dead, and four remain missing at press time, after two houses were swept away and the island’s main coastal highway was washed out by rushing water. Thousands of residents and tourists also were cut off along the island’s north shore.

A wall of water burst through the dam on Kaloko Reservoir about 3 miles southeast of Kilauea, Civil Defense and Coast Guard officials and witnesses said. A 150-yard-wide wave of water washed across a stretch of Kuhio Highway, the only road to resort communities and homes from Kilauea to Haena, said Dave Curtis, Civil Defense spokesman in Honolulu.

According to Coast Guard Station Kauai Spokesman Michael De Nyse, several 100-gallon oil tanks were reported in the water, but there was no sheen.

Rod Hiraga, state transportation director, said the force of the water scoured and flooded 100 yards of highway.

The small airport at Princeville remained open, but tourists with flights from the main airport in Lihue would be unable to get there until the road was repaired.

Kauai is dotted with private earthen dams such as the one that broke open. Kaloko dam was 40 feet high and about 800 feet long, capturing runoff from small streams. Officials estimate that about 1,400 acre feet of water poured out of the reservoir, which is enough water to cover 1,400 acres a foot deep, or more than 60 million cubic feet.

It has been raining heavily across Kauai and the rest of the Hawaiian Islands in recent weeks with more rain forecasted.

Ray Lovell, a state Civil Defense spokesman, said state resources were being mobilized. “The state will provide whatever we can to help them respond to this,” he said.

Roy Matsuda, lead forecaster at the Honolulu office of the National Weather Service, said “Kauai has been fully saturated.”

The weather service has issued a flood warning for the entire state, cautioning residents of the threat of flooding. Heavy rains flooded parts of Oahu earlier in March. And emergency crews just finished replacing 12 utility poles along the island of Oahu’s Waianae Coast’s main highway after strong winds following heavy rains knocked them down, smashing 17 cars and injuring two people.

Officials say a strong wind gust cracked the poles in half. Police said a woman and child in one of the damaged cars suffered minor injuries. Others were treated at the scene.

Hawaiian Electric Co. said that about one-third of some 1,400 affected customers experienced temporary blackouts, but full service was restored.

Ray Tanabe, a forecaster with the National Weather Service, said he believed the incident was caused by a strong gust of wind.

The weather service said winds on the Waianae Coast were at about 35 miles per hour, with the possibility of localized gusts reaching 50 or 60 mph.

HECO spokeswoman Sharon Higa said the poles are designed to withstand 80 mph winds.

Meanwhile, Gov. Linda Lingle has signed a supplement to her March 2 emergency proclamation, extending relief and assistance to residents and businesses on all islands affected by recent heavy rains and flooding through March 26 to expedite evacuations and disaster relief. The governor’s original proclamation covered Feb. 20-24 and March 1-3 and included only Oahu, Kauai and Maui. The supplemental proclamation covers March 8-12 for all islands.

The proclamations make personal and commercial loans available to families and businesses damaged by the unusually heavy rain. They also authorize the National Guard to assist civilian authorities in disaster prevention, relief and cleanup.

The governor also has asked the Legislature for more than $14 million to deal with the dam crisis, including about $8 million to assess and reduce problems with dams throughout the state.

Engineers from the State Department of Land and Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also are due to begin assessing all reservoirs on the island. There are 53 dams on Kauai and 133 in Hawaii overall. Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Flood