TOM FINNEGAN / TFINNEGAN@STARBULLETIN.COM State and Kauai County workers worked yesterday to fix a broken water pipe under the Wainiha Bridge.

Water out as Kauai’s north shore cleans up

WAINIHA, Kauai » Heavy machinery was as common as rental vehicles on Kuhio Highway from Princeville to Haena yesterday morning as county and state workers began cleaning up after Sunday's heavy rains.

The north shore was one of the hardest hit areas, with hundreds of households still without regular water service yesterday afternoon. A water pipe underneath Wainiha Bridge that broke Sunday was fixed by county and state workers late yesterday, but county officials asked residents in the area to conserve water until regular service could be returned.

Two water trucks had been positioned in the area for residents, officials said.

At least two cars, as well as personal items from homes in the Wainiha valley, made their way down to the ocean Sunday afternoon, but Kauai Civil Defense Administrator Mark Marshall said the damage overall was relatively minor.

Marshall said at least one family was trapped between rising forks of the Wainiha Stream. At least one home was flooded with about a foot of water, but no one was evacuated.

On Kauai's west side, where a 40-foot Matson container carried by flood water hit two bridges over the Hanapepe River, flood waters had not receded enough to assess the damage to the county bridge.

It remains closed, but the main state-owned bridge, downstream of the county bridge by about 100 yards, remains open, county officials said.

The county bridge appears "to be slightly damaged, but we're not certain if it was caused by the container hitting it or another large object," said Deputy County Engineer Ed Renaud, who checked the damage yesterday.