“The current weather situation has created a very dangerous flooding situation in the entire county of Maui, especially in eastern Maui,” Maui Mayor Mike Victorino said at a news conference Monday afternoon. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a real flood situation that we have not seen in a long time, adding that some residents have told him that this is the worst flood they have seen in over 25 years.
Heavy rains caused water in Haiku’s Kaupakalua dam to rise early Monday and break through around 3:21 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the county of Maui.
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency ordered those downstream to evacuate and three shelters were opened for those in need.
The National Weather Service said additional heavy rainfall could trigger a momentary flash flood warning for areas downstream of the dam and advised residents to follow instructions from Maui’s emergency management officials.
The governor said he was willing to assist the area during evacuations.
The state stands ready to support the county of Maui as residents and visitors evacuate downstream of the Kaupakulua Dam at this hour. Please stay out of the area until the danger has passed and keep an eye on the local media for updates, ”Hawaii government David Ige said in a statement.
All parks in County Maui were closed until further notice due to heavy rains and flooding, the Department of Parks and Recreation announced.
Residents describe floods
Carmen Gardner told CNN that she has lived in the area for 40 years and has never seen floods so bad.
She recorded videos showing how quickly and forcefully the water flooded the area. She said she was safe over Kaupakalua dam.
“The winter of 88-89 was a flood in a downpour, but never anything close to this,” she told CNN. Kaupakalua Road looked like the Colorado River. It’s below us, but there’s a flash flood at the bottom (bottom) edge of our property that seems to have already taken away one of the unauthorized buildings they rented out. ‘
Gardner said the rental properties under her appeared to be ‘badly damaged’.
Ana Paula DeCarlo told CNN her family was safe even though they were stuck at home for being washed away from the road. She recorded a video showing that water flowed over the road where a small stream used to flow underneath.
“Yes, it’s like a bridge, a little one over a brook,” she said across the road. ‘It hasn’t stopped raining for a second. We are about 15 minutes from the dam. ‘
“This is our street now. We have nowhere to go. The street is gone, it’s gone!”
CNN meteorologist Michael Guy and Amanda Jackson contributed to this report.