A fire crew checking Kaelepulu Stream in Kailua after heavy rainfall Thursday night discovered the waters had risen to a dangerously high level yesterday.

Water was beginning to lap over the canal wall onto the parking lot behind Buzz's Original Steakhouse, located across from Kailua Beach Park, Battalion Chief Lionel Camara said at the scene.

Honolulu Fire Department crews opened the mouth of the stream after getting approval from the city Facilities Maintenance and Emergency Management departments.

Firefighters wearing rubber boots and armed with shovels dug a trench about 50 feet long and 3 feet wide, working from noon to 2 p.m. and monitoring the flow until 3 p.m.

The water gushed through the narrow trench into the ocean.

Lifelong Kailua resident Bob Thurston, who lives on Kawailoa Road a few lanes from Buzz's, thanked the firefighters yesterday for opening a channel through the sand that had built up across the mouth of the stream into Kailua Bay.

“;All it takes is heavy rains, and the stream starts to overflow back into the neighborhood,”; Thurston said.

He complained that the city, despite prior flood warnings, failed in the past to open the stream mouth before heavy rain, which led to flooding.

Leslie Muirhead, manager at Buzz's, said the stream “;does fill up fast.”;

“;The last big rain, the Friday after Thanksgiving, it flooded the parking lot,”; she said.

By 3 p.m. the water level in the canal had visibly dropped by about a foot, leaving a wet watermark on the concrete pilings that hold up the bridge running over the stream.

“;We frequently drive throughout the communities looking for any unusual situations ... and also to see what the roads and streets look like,”; said fire Capt. Terry Seelig, adding they are familiar with the flooding problems in the area.

The city also opened the stream mouth Nov. 22 after heavy rain. The storm runoff prompted warning signs at Kailua Beach due to contaminated water.

In December 2007 there were a couple of instances of flooding in the area, and firefighters used portable pumps to move water from lanes on Kawailoa Road.

Camara said that the city's heavy equipment was standing by in case firefighters were unable to accomplish the job. He said it takes some time to haul out the equipment.

The relatively narrow trench will eventually widen by eroding through the sandbar and open up the stream mouth, Camara said.