Hawaii Pummeled by Worst Floods in 2 Decades

Hawaii suffered its worst flooding in more than 20 years as heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from last week's winter storm, officials said Friday. Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu's North Shore, a community world-renowned for its big-wave surfing, per the AP. Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu. Authorities also cautioned that a 120-year-old dam could fail. Gov. Josh Green said the cost of the storm could top $1 billion, including damage to airports, schools, roads, people's homes, and a Maui hospital in Kula. "This is going to have a very serious consequence for us as a state," Green said at a news conference.

Most of the state was under a flood watch, with Haleiwa and Waialua in northern Oahu under a flash flood warning, according to the National Weather Service. Green said his chief of staff spoke to the White House and received assurances the islands would have federal support. No deaths were reported and no one was unaccounted for. About 10 people were taken to a hospital with hypothermia, Green said. Crews searched by air and by water for people who'd been stranded—efforts that were hampered by people flying personal drones to capture images of the flooding, per a Honolulu spokesperson.

The National Guard and Honolulu Fire Department airlifted 72 children and adults who'd been attending a spring break youth camp at a retreat on Oahu's west coast, according to city and camp officials. The camp is on high ground, but authorities didn't want to leave them there, the mayor said. Green said the flooding was the state's most serious since 2004 floods in Manoa inundated homes and a University of Hawaii library. Dozens, if not hundreds, of homes were damaged on Friday, but officials haven't been able to fully assess the destruction, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said. "There's no question that the damage done thus far has been catastrophic," he noted.

Officials blamed some of the devastation on the sheer amount of rain that fell in a short amount of time on saturated land. Parts of Oahu received 8 to 12 inches of rain overnight. Ka'ala, the island's highest peak, got nearly 16 inches over the past day, per the NWS. More deluge is expected: Blangiardi said 6 to 8 inches of rain was forecast to fall on Oahu over the next two to three days. Officials are also closely watching the Wahiawa dam, which has been vulnerable for decades, saying it was "at risk of imminent failure." More here.