This 10-ton boulder which fell next to an Akowai Street house in Nanakuli prompted evacuations from nearby homes.
Danger remains
where rock fellThe state continues to evaluate
a hill behind a house in Nanakuli
Almost all residents who were evacuated after a 10-ton boulder landed behind a Nanakuli house Thursday night returned home yesterday, but they were advised that the area may still be dangerous.
"We're still evaluating the situation," said state Department of Land and Natural Resources Director Peter Young. "We are strongly encouraging people to be cautious in the area."
Geologists were expected to return to the site today to find out what caused the boulder, which is about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, to slide down about 30 feet from a hillside behind 1428 Akowai Road and land behind unit M.
The unit's residents were advised to stay away until the hill is declared safe, Young said.
State experts said that because the boulder traveled a relatively short distance it appeared to do no damage to the house.
"It was moving very slowly," said Kevin L. Gooding, assistant state geologist. "It had very little energy."
Emergency crews took a woman who lives in unit M to Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center Thursday night, but it is not clear how she injured herself. Paramedics said she suffered a shoulder injury.
The rockslide occurred about 11 p.m. Thursday.
It comes after a smaller boulder barreled down a mountainside and into a home on Henry Street in Nuuanu, smashing a corner of the master bedroom on Monday. Henry Street was also the site of a fatal rockfall in August 2001, when a boulder smashed into a home and killed Dara Onishi.
News videographer Bob Guanzon yesterday lined up a shot of the boulder that hit a home on Akowai Street in Nanakuli.
In Nanakuli, fire officials evacuated all 14 homes on the property -- sending 39 people to find shelter for the night -- because they were unsure whether there was a danger of more boulders coming down.
By the next morning however, some of those people were still wondering when they could go home. Some residents had tried to return home only to be turned back by police who said it was not safe. Tenants were let back into their homes yesterday afternoon.
"It was 3 o'clock in the morning when the firefighters came knocking on my door to tell me we had to leave," said Belinda Anderson, who lives in unit B with her 3 children. "I had to wake the kids up and the Red Cross put us up at the Plaza Hotel."
The property is owned by Newport Beach resident Donald S. Redington, who purchased it in September. It's unclear whether the hillside above the property is owned by Redington or the state, Young said.
Redington was in town this week to check out the property and said that when he bought it, there was no mention of a rockfall problem.
"It should have been disclosed, because it seems like there was a prior history of it," he said. "We've been trying to remediate the problem by building a rock catchment system but the city and county stopped us and said we need a permit.
"It's very frustrating ... we're trying to do the right thing here."
Redington said hopefully the state and city will allow him to take measures to protect his property and those who live on it.
Motioning to the two houses closest to the hillside he said, "If we have to abandon this portion of the property then we'll abandon it, that's all there is to it."
In the meantime, residents are hoping their lives will return to normal.
"It's been hard," said Anderson. "The kids didn't go to school because they were tired, I didn't go to work because the kids didn't go to school. Overall it's been a very hectic day."
Star-Bulletin reporter Mary Vorsino contributed to this report.
