About 10 homeless people at Harvest Chapel in Lahaina were forced to find shelter with Maui families when the building flooded. A nearby house at Luakine and Prison streets was also evacuated, according to Sel Menor, the Maui Civil Defense administrator.
A Civil Defense shelter was opened at the Lahaina Civic Center. "The last time I talked with them, there were six people at the shelter (which) opened at 4 a.m.," said Menor.
About 4.5 inches of rain fell in Lahaina from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. At one point, an inch of rain fell in 15 minutes.
"They've had one of the most intense rainfalls," said Roy Matsuda, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service.
Adrian Akima, a Red Cross acting supervisor, said the water was 3-4 feet deep in some areas near Prison and Luakine streets.
Akima said a boy at the chapel shelter awoke when he noticed his bed was moving. "He was floating on the water and he fell into the water," Akima said.
Akima said the underground parking lot at the 505 Front St. Shops and Restaurants was flooded. "All you can see is the tops of cars."
Several traffic intersections in Kahului were closed early this morning due to ponding.
On Molokai, flooding has closed a section of Kamehameha V Highway two miles east of Kaunakakai since midnight.
Matsuda said except for the Big Island which will be cloudy most of the day, the rest of the Hawaiian Islands should experience a cloudy morning that turns sunny by this afternoon.
He said the rains were caused by a cold front moving from west to east across the islands and that a lighter cold front is expected tomorrow.
Matsuda said about 4.37 inches of rain fell at Anahola in Kauai, 3.99 in Lanai City and 4.58 at Punaluu on Oahu.
On Oahu, parts of Farrington Highway were closed around midnight due to the downpour. No major power outages were reported on Oahu.
In Kailua-Kona, high winds and seas caused a large commercial catamaran to break its moorings and strike the Kailua-Kona pier about 1:50 a.m. today, police said. The "Party Boat" sustained some small holes in one hull but was not in danger of sinking.
The National Weather Service said heavy showers on the Big Island were hitting the west and north sides. An advisory for possible minor flooding from streams in those areas was extended at daybreak to the entire island.