By Ben Gutierrez - bio | email
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Heavy rain caused flooding along Windward Oahu, sending water into homes and covering Kamehameha Highway with as much as four feet of water Saturday evening.
Much of the area was under a flash flood warning throughout the evening as a storm system dumped as much as two to three inches of rain per hour for some spots.
The National Weather Service in Honolulu said at 10:30 p.m., the heaviest rain had moved offshore. However, runoff levels remained high. Kamehameha Highway was reported closed all the way from Kaaawa to the Hygienic Store near Kahaluu.
Earlier in the evening, water was reported to be four feet deep on the road near Punaluu Beach Park. The Punaluu Stream rain gauge recorded 9.56 inches of rain between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. The Kahana rain gauge recorded 8.23 inches during the same period, while the gauge at the Waihee Pump picked up 5.67 inches. The Ahuimanu Loop gauge picked up 5.17 inches of rain.
As of 8:30 p.m., water levels at Kahana Stream and Waihee Stream rose about their previous records. Kahana Stream rose to 10.1 feet, beating the previous record of 9.4 feet, while Waihee Stream rose to 9.4 feet, well over the previous record of 6 feet.
Forecasters urged people to avoid travel to Windward Oahu due to hazardous conditions from flooding on roads and streams and very low visibility.
The weather service still has a Flash Flood Watch posted for all Hawaiian Islands until 6 a.m. Sunday.
Follow the storm on our Interactive Radar Map.
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