Emergency officials in 91直播 on Friday ordered people near a dam in the northern part of Oahu to evacuate, warning that it was in danger of failing after heavy rain overnight had pushed the reservoir to critically high levels.
Water in the Wahiawa Reservoir was just a few feet below the top of the dam early Friday morning, according to Gov. Josh Green of 91直播. The dam had not failed but was at 鈥渋mminent risk of failure,鈥� the Oahu Department of Emergency Management said shortly after 9 a.m. local time. By noon, water levels in the reservoir had dropped by more than a foot.
Floodwaters have already cut off road access in the area, according to emergency management officials and the National Weather Service, which warned that 鈥渨idespread flooding of roadways and low-lying areas is ongoing.鈥�
Emergency officials urged people in Waialua and Haleiwa to evacuate to higher ground if possible, calling the rising waters 鈥渃atastrophic.鈥�
Preliminary data from a flood sensor operated by the U.S. Geological Survey showed that at 8 a.m. water levels in the Wahiawa Reservoir reached 85.10 feet, surpassing the previous record, 85 feet, which was set in October 2005.
Green told a local television station that the top of the dam is 90 feet tall, and he called 88 feet 鈥渁 very critical threshold.鈥�
Water levels at the Wahiawa Reservoir showed a tentative downward trend Friday afternoon, offering a brief respite after the earlier warning. But officials cautioned during a noon news conference that the lull would be temporary.
Ian Scheuring, deputy communications director for the Honolulu mayor鈥檚 office, said that just before the briefing the weather service had advised that the North Shore and central Oahu were in a temporary break between rain bands, with the heaviest rain shifting east toward Kailua and Waimanalo.
Rain bands are expected to return to the North Shore by evening, and even moderate rainfall is now producing severe flooding because the ground is completely saturated, officials said. Storm surges have been coming in at 6 to 8 inches when forecasters projected only 2 to 3. About 5,500 people remain under evacuation orders.
Scheuring said search-and-rescue operations remained active across the North Shore, with no confirmed count yet of how many people had required rescue.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to say exactly what the damage is because some of the roads have been impassable, but clearly, at the very least, dozens if not hundreds of homes, people being displaced,鈥� said Rick Blangiardi, the mayor of the city and county of Honolulu.
The governor detailed harrowing rescue efforts for people stuck in floodwaters, including a group of 70 who were surrounded by water at a campsite. It is spring break for public schools in 91直播, Green said, and there were many children in the group.
鈥淚 was told they are safe right now,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut they were having difficulty getting out because there was so much water around them.鈥�
In a video posted to social media, he described flooding that had reached 鈥渦p to chest level鈥� in some areas.
The governor also said that the Coast Guard would conduct search-and-rescue operations if needed. 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a very touch-and-go day,鈥� Green said. He added that the National Guard had been deployed.
The dam was built in 1906 to supply irrigation water to the Waialua Sugar Co. The dam is owned by Dole Food Co. 91直播, Sustainable 91直播 and Wahiawa Water Co., according to records from the Army Corps of Engineers. Regulators classify it as having a high hazard potential, meaning a failure would probably result in the loss of life, according to the records.
The federal agency also lists the dam鈥檚 overall condition as 鈥減oor.鈥�
鈥淭he aging concrete spillway structure and main embankment integrity are uncertain and may potentially be compromised during a significant flood event,鈥� the according to minutes from an October 2023 meeting of 91直播鈥檚 Department of Land and Natural Resources.
A Dole spokesperson, William Goldfield, said in a statement that the company was 鈥渨orking closely with authorities鈥� and continuing to monitor reservoirs. He added that the dam was operating as designed, with 鈥渘o indications of damage.鈥�
The flash flooding threat came after yet another system delivered heavy rain, only days after a multiday storm brought over 2 feet of rain to some locations across 91直播.
鈥淏ecause the ground was so primed for this storm, we鈥檙e seeing things get bad pretty quickly,鈥� said Stephen Parker, a meteorologist with the weather service office in Honolulu.
The storm arrived Thursday night and was expected to bring a chance of rain through at least Sunday.
Heavy showers and thunderstorms brought well over a foot of rainfall to parts of northern Oahu in just the last day, the weather service said.
In total, the Waialua area, a residential area downstream from the Wahiawa Reservoir, has recorded about 20 inches of rain since last Friday, amid back-to-back Kona low storms. One location in the mountains nearby measured nearly 30 inches of rain, according to the weather service.
鈥淟ast night, north Oahu was in the bull鈥檚-eye of the heavy rain,鈥� Dennis Trotter, a meteorologist with the weather service, said Friday.
State Rep. Sean Quinlan said he had been hearing reports that neighbors were looking out for each other, checking in on elders and helping clear streams. Honolulu County, which includes the entire island of Oahu, requires landowners to maintain streams on their properties in part to lower the risk of flooding. People with tractors have been helping with rescues from homes on the North Shore.
Many are waiting in flooded areas to return home. If they can鈥檛 go back Friday night 鈥� around 5,000 are displaced 鈥� Quinlan said he and other lawmakers would work on readying a shelter in Wahiawa. That call will be made based on whether the roads open up.
Quinlan said he and others had been calling hotels in Waikiki to see if they could provide substantially discounted rates for locals to shelter. Still, many may not be able to afford them, he said.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have to find a place to shelter them until they can go back to their homes,鈥� he said.
Quinlan was stuck at the Capitol, unable to navigate the roads after a late night of work. Late Friday afternoon, he was waiting on the all-clear to check on his house, and on his mother, who doesn鈥檛 live in the evacuation zone but is in Sunset Beach, where there is flooding on both sides of her neighborhood, he said.
鈥淚t is the worst flooding I鈥檝e seen in my lifetime,鈥� said Jake DiPaola, 40, a North Shore resident. 鈥淎ll of our friends are evacuated out of Waialua. Our friends that haven鈥檛 been evacuated in Haleiwa are on the top floor of their houses, stranded Katrina-style.鈥�
T.J. Cuaresma, whose family has lived on the North Shore for more than 100 years, said that several important bridges in the area had been impassable until midday Friday.
The damage was made worse by large and small property owners who failed to clear vegetation and other debris from streams, she said.
Some property owners along the beach also built driveways with pipes too small to handle heavy flows of water, and planted vegetation that clogs waterways during storms, Cuaresma said.
Cuaresma, who was until recently a board member of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, said that most longtime residents of the area were well prepared for the storm, and that many had evacuated even before formal orders were issued.
In Waikiki, where much of the island鈥檚 tourism is concentrated, glum out-of-towners in ponchos strolled the normally bustling beachfront on Friday morning, and a few hardy swimmers and surfers took to the choppy water.
An open-air coffee shop along the beach, Kai Coffee, opened as usual Friday morning but began flooding and closed before 9 a.m.
鈥淲e have not had a rainy season like this in years,鈥� said Eva Harn, a barista.
Alissa Fa, who lives on the east side of Oahu, where she was born and raised, said the driving wind and rain over the last week had been 鈥渢he worst I鈥檝e experienced.鈥�
She was impressed by the way the island had prepared, trimming trees to minimize damage and clearing storm drains of debris. But she has still seen trees snapped in half, and many of the windows in her home were leaking. The architectural showroom in Honolulu where she works had closed for most of the past week, and her home lost power for two days.
Friday was Fa鈥檚 32nd birthday. A year ago, she recalled, she celebrated with friends on the beach.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not happening this year,鈥� she said with a laugh.
This article originally appeared in .
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