GARY T. KUBOTA / GKUBOTA@STARBULLETIN.COM Water continued to flow over the road yesterday in the Waiohuli subdivision where a flash flood plugged a culvert, diverting water sideways.

Maui mayor asks for storm help

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Mayor Charmaine Tavares said Maui needs help from state and federal officials because of heavy damage from wind and heavy rains.

Tavares said yesterday she did not have any estimates but has directed her department heads to gather information to prepare a request to the state and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"This is not just a passing little rain shower," Tavares said. "This is a storm. I can tell you, I've lived here for 50-plus years ... and I've never seen a storm hit so many places at once."

Meanwhile, Hawaiian Electric Co. hopes to restore electricity this morning to the last 800 or so customers in Waimea, Wahiawa, Nanakuli and Maili without power last night.

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Island weather roundup

GARY T. KUBOTA / GKUBOTA@STARBULLETIN.COM A house in the Waiohuli subdivision of Kula on Maui was swept off its foundation and into a gulch of mud and debris on Wednesday. Two occupants were rescued by a county helicopter. Maui Mayor Charmaine Tavares, hoping to obtain state and federal disaster aid, is gathering information to determine the amount of damage from the storm.

Maui

WAILUKU » Maui County Mayor Charmaine Tavares said she plans to ask state and federal officials for help as a result of extensive damage from wind and heavy rains.

At a news conference yesterday, Tavares said she has directed her department heads to gather information to prepare a request to the state and Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"This is not just a passing little rain shower," Tavares said. "This is a storm. I can tell you, I've lived here for 50-plus years ... and I've never seen a storm hit so many places at once."

A National Guard unit that was visiting Maui to conduct a mock exercise was diverted to help the county and has been going door to door in the flood-damaged Hawaiian homestead of Waiohuli to determine the needs of residents.

Army Lt. Col. Trey Johnson said at the news conference he knows of two houses swept off their foundations at Waiohuli, where his unit of 30 soldiers remains on alert.

A flash flood stormed down a gulch in Waiohuli between Pueo and Lau'ie drives around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday and swept away the house owned by Harold and Gail Haupu with the Haupus' son Shane, 38, and grandson Isaiah, 8, but they were spared.

Residents said the family had six dogs and recovered four but was still missing two, including a golden retriever.

Residents said the house came to rest about 100 feet from its original location.

"I looked out of the window. I saw it coming, and the garage filled up," Isaiah said.

Isaiah said when the flood knocked the house off its foundation, he was thrown against a water cooler in the kitchen.

Shane and Isaiah climbed out of a bedroom window to get onto the house roof above the floodwaters to call for help.

Hendrick Haupu, a family spokesman, said the family was in shock about the flood but wanted to express gratitude to the county and neighbors.

"We'd just like to thank the community of Waiohuli for all their support," he said.

Waiohuli resident Kim Kaanana said a boy on the roof was crying for help and her son Kalikiano used his cell phone to call 911. Residents said a county rescue helicopter came within 10 minutes.

County officials yesterday limited traffic on Kula Highway near Waiohuli to local residents because of the continuing rain and potential for it undermining the road.

Maui Electric President Ed Reinhardt, at the mayor's conference, said his company was working to restore power to 20,000 customers in Kihei and 3,200 customers in Kula.

Reinhardt said high winds contributed to fallen lines in Kula and snapped power poles in Maalaea.

Electrical outages have created water shortages in some areas relying on pumping for their supply, including residents from Kula to Kanaio who are drawing water from portable water tankers.

Classes at Lahainaluna High School also have been canceled today due to the lack of water.

Kaanana said she never expected a flash flood to take place in her neighborhood and now that it has, she's worried about her family's safety.

"It's kind of scary," she said.

She said some residents who heard there may be more flooding have left their homes.

Waiohuli resident Kim Endo said she couldn't see the flash flood as it washed down the gulch but heard the rumbling sound of rock, debris, mud and water.

"It was like a roar, and it just kept getting louder and louder," she said.

Casey Mattos said he came back to his house yesterday morning and found mud and a stack of trees in his driveway, where the water had rushed along Pueo Drive.

"I didn't expect it to be this bad," said Mattos, who just moved into his house in April.

Big Island

Damage from storms hovers near $1 million

SOUTH KONA, Hawaii » Ken Verosko spent the day shoveling dirt and rocks from his South Kona Fruit Stand yesterday following Wednesday's downpour.

It was the second time in less than a week that an overflowing gulch above his little restaurant beside Mamalahoa Highway had sent a river straight through his building, digging a new stream channel as it went.

The stream turns left as it goes out the front door, runs along the highway before crossing, and digs at the road base with each flood, he said.

A representative from his landlord, Kamehameha Schools, walked the property but made no commitment of help, Verosko said.

Hawaii County Managing Director Dixie Kaetsu said no effort was made to assess damage from Wednesday's storm because of continuing wet weather, although not nearly as bad as Wednesday.

Preliminary damage estimates from the Nov. 29 storm showed commercial damage of $215,000, most of it at the fruit stand, Kaetsu said.

The estimates also showed $700,000 for county roads and $120,000 for state highways, both including cleanup costs and actual damage. Damage to homes was minimal, she said.

The total, just over $1 million, was not enough to trigger federal aid, she said.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM HECO workers repaired lines yesterday along Farrington Highway downed from Wednesday's storm.

Oahu

HECO aims to erase powerless pockets

Hawaiian Electric Co. hopes to get the lights back on this morning for the last 800 or so remaining customers without power last night, the company said.

The last pockets in Waimea, Wahiawa, Nanakuli and Maili have proven difficult, HECO Vice President Lynne Unemori said last night.

At 6 p.m. yesterday, Unemori was projecting that Maili and Sunset Beach residents would have to endure another night without electricity.

After the initial high winds of an intense Kona storm hit Oahu early Tuesday morning, HECO reported as many as 45,000 customers without power. A total of 36 utility poles knocked down by wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph had to be replaced.

With hundreds of HECO employees working around the clock, the number of customers without power had dropped to 10,000 or so Wednesday night.

HECO employees have to go through certain procedures to ensure safety while making repairs, Unemori said. "Still, we know how hard it is for our customers to be without power for that long. We understand their frustration and so very much appreciate their patience," she said.

One area that didn't get power back until yesterday afternoon was the North Shore's Pupukea area.

"The biggest problem I see is there is no emergency radio station to go to for information," said Ken Newfield, a Pupukea resident. "It seems the whole state's response is, 'Click on www' to find out. But we don't have power, we don't have Internet, and it's not on the radio. How do we check?"

The situation makes the residents feel isolated, though they do help each other out.

"We had friends come over for dinner ," said Newfield, who used his chainsaw to help remove fallen tree trunks and branches in the neighborhood.

"For people who haven't gone through this before, it's very frightening," said Gerry Meade, a longtime Pupukea resident. "We old-timers just go with the flow. We know what we're supposed to do, but it can be very exhausting."

When working on outages, HECO balances restoring power to as many customers as possible with the need to keep lines turned off where crews are working, Unemori said.

The way power is routed means some customers in Maili or on the North Shore, for example, might see a neighbor with power while theirs is still off, she said.

The fact that some of the utility poles being replaced along Farrington Highway are less than two years old "really gives you an indication of how severe were the storm conditions we faced," she said.

Several Oahu roofing companies said they have been busy.

"It's been crazy," said Yvonne Hernandez at United Roofing. "We had eight guys and even the owner out, working on emergency repairs" on Wednesday, she said. "Today, same thing, but not as bad."