Sewage spills in Kailua
Minor flooding hits areas of Oahu
after a second straight weekend
of hard rain
A cold front that brought heavy rains over Oahu this weekend caused a major waste-water spill in Kailua, flooding problems for some residents and a small rockslide in Nuuanu yesterday.
A rain gauge at Maunawili reported 3.54 inches in a 24-hour period. The Olomana Fire Station's rain gauge reported 2.94, and the gauge at St. Stephen's Church reported 2.93 inches.
But there seems to be a reprieve in the forecast.
Light winds accompanied with sunny mornings and some clouds and showers in the afternoon are expected throughout this week, according to the National Weather Service. And tradewinds are expected to return by Thursday.
In the meantime a second wet weekend in a row kept authorities and residents busy cleaning up.
The heavy rains may have been responsible Saturday for about 5,000 gallons of waste water spilling into Kaelepulu Stream, which flows into Kailua Beach.
City crew members responded at 9:30 p.m. Saturday to discover waste water overflowing from a manhole located at 429 Wanaao Road. The overflow stopped 45 minutes later.
Warning signs about the spill were posted at the stream and Kailua Beach Park. Workers from the Department of Environmental Services tested the water yesterday for contamination.
RAIN, RAIN WENT AWAY
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The Honolulu Fire Department responded to about 10 rain-related incidents in Waianae, Kailua, Kaneohe, McCully, Mapunapuna and Manoa Saturday night.
Fire Capt. Kenison Tejada said affected residents experienced some flooding in or around their homes. No injuries were reported.
Kailua resident Regina Hawkes said a firetruck pumped almost 1,000 gallons of water from her back yard.
Hawkes said rainwater gushed into her back yard from a water easement. About 6 inches of water filled her entire back yard.
"I was really scared," said Hawkes, of Alahaki Street. "It's never been this bad."
Tejada said a home on Oliver Street had some flooding in the basement. However, the water started to recede once firefighters arrived. "The rains would come and let up," said Tejada.
A small rockslide occurred on the Kailua-bound lanes of Pali Highway between the two tunnels about 9:35 a.m. yesterday. Small rocks and mud covered a portion of the highway. The largest rock that fell measured 2 feet in diameter, said Scott Ishikawa, spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.
One lane was temporarily closed while state workers cleared the roadway of the debris. Ishikawa said state workers will monitor the area should another torrential downpour occur.
The University of Hawaii-Manoa, hit hard by rains and flooding a week ago, restored power to some buildings after a power failure occurred Saturday morning.
"One power grid is working and the other is down," said UH spokesman Jim Manke.
Moore Hall was powered by a generator, and classes held only at the St. John Plant Science Lab were canceled today, Manke said. The cause of the outage is still unknown.
Students are urged to call the hot line at 956-0001 or go to the university's Web site, www.hawaii.edu, for any updates.
