ACROSS ISLANDS
Motorists slowed to a crawl yesterday on Kamehameha Highway near Waikane as heavy rains flooded sections of Windward Oahu. The hazardous conditions prompted many motorists to detour from their normal commuting routes.
Rain stirs mayhem
across Oahu
At least two homes are flooded
and sewage overflows from
two manholes
Thundershowers drenched most of Oahu yesterday, causing two sewage spills, flooding on Kamehameha Highway, a power outage and the cancellation of a high school football game.
About 50,000 gallons of sewage overflowed from a manhole at the Kaneohe wastewater pretreatment facility on Kulauli Street before it was contained at 6:05 p.m. The water went into Kaneohe Street, which empties into Kaneohe Bay.
A second spill from a manhole at Punawai pump station near King Intermediate School sent 22,500 gallons of untreated wastewater into Kaneohe Bay. Crews got to the spill about 5:15 p.m. and it was brought under control about an hour and 30 minutes later.
Both spills were caused by heavy runoff, officials said, and warning signs will be posted.
Meanwhile, two homes in Kaneohe -- one in Haiku Plantations, the other on Heeia Street -- sustained minor flooding because of the rain, said Capt. Kenison Tejada, Fire Department spokesman. No one was injured in either incident, he said.
Cars plowed yesterday afternoon through a rain-soaked Kahekili Highway near the Hygienic Store on the Windward side.
Honolulu police closed both directions of traffic on Kamehameha Highway at Waiahole Homestead Road and Haupoa Street for about an hour yesterday because of flooding and runoff from Waikane Valley Stream and Waiahole Stream. The road reopened about 7:30 p.m.
The rain also spurred the cancellation of last night's football game in Kahuku between Kailua and Kahuku high schools.
More heavy rain and some thundershowers were expected today as tropical depression Jova continues to weaken and move away from the islands, the National Weather Service said.
Jova never reached the islands, but it brought moist air that settled over the interior of the island and fell as precipitation when the air cooled, said weather service forecaster Robert Ballard.
He said Jova is also disrupting the tradewind flow that would normally blow the rain clouds away from the island. At 5 p.m. yesterday, Jova was 440 miles east-northeast of Honolulu and was traveling northwest at 9 mph.
People took shelter yesterday at a bus stop at Windward Mall as heavy rain drenched Windward Oahu.
Weather service rain gauges recorded 0.35 inches in Kahuku and 0.45 inches at the Army's Kahuku Training Area between 2 and 5 p.m. Gauges also recorded 0.27 inches on Makua Ridge on Oahu's Leeward side. Heavy showers also fell on the North Shore.
A flash flood warning was in effect for all of Oahu until 8 last night.
Meanwhile, lightning is believed responsible for a power outage that affected about 2,900 customers in Wahiawa and parts of Schofield Barracks from 2:36 p.m. to 3:40 p.m., said Hawaiian Electric Co. spokesman Jose Dizon.
Lightning was seen near the company's Helemano substation, he said.
Lightning is also believed responsible for setting a tree on fire in Kailua about 11 a.m. Resident John Stahl was working on his computer when he heard an explosion and discovered that lightning had struck his neighbor's coconut tree.
"I think everyone in Kailua heard it," said Stahl, who lives near Kainalu Elementary School. "It was a mighty explosion. It scared everybody."
Honolulu Fire Department's Engine 19 was leaving the scene of another call about a mile away in Mokapu when firefighters heard the explosion as if it occurred right next to them, said Capt. Edward Pestana.
They put out the fire to a 70-foot palm at Uilama Street and Maluniu Avenue, he said.
Workers inspected the outside of Hawaiian Airlines Flight 20 yesterday after the Sacramento-bound jet returned to Honolulu after being struck by lightning.
Fire officials doused a coconut tree in Kailua yesterday after lightning set the top of it on fire.
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