Over 4,000 told to evacuate flooding in Hawaii as officials warn 120-year-old dam could fail

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, but firefighters and lifeguards on jet skis were searching flood waters for people who had been stranded, said Ian Scheuring, a spokesperson for Honolulu.

“We do have reports of homes being swept away,” he said. But the agency doesn't know how many. The evacuation order asked fleeing residents to carpool because of heavy traffic.

Officials have been watching dam levels since a storm last week dumped heavy rain across the state, which led to catastrophic flooding that washed away roads and homes. After the worst of it, a similar but weaker storm was forecast to bring more rain through this weekend.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said in a social media post that the Hawaii National Guard has been activated to respond to the flooding. “The storm of course is very severe right now, particularly on the northern part of Oahu,” he said, describing chest-high flood waters. “It’s going to be a very touch-and-go day.”

Most of the state was under a flood watch, with northern Oahu under a flash flood warning, according to the National Weather Service, which reported “widespread life-threatening flash flooding” that's “extremely dangerous” particularly in Haleiwa and Waialua.

One shelter at Waialua High and Intermediate School is being evacuated because of flooding, Scheuring said. There were about 185 people and 50 pets who had sought shelter there but are being bussed to another evacuation center.

“With how saturated everything was from last weekend, it didn’t take much and we got a lot,” he said, noting that there were 8 inches to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of rain in some parts of north Oahu overnight.

As she prepared to evacuate to a friend’s home on higher ground, Waialua resident Kathleen Pahinui told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the aging dam is a concern every time it rains.

“Just pray for us,” she said. “We understand there’s more rain coming.”

Molly Pierce, spokesperson for the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management, said the evacuation order covers more than 4,000 people, though the number could be higher.

Officials issued a warning for the dam during heavy rain last week, but the water level receded as rain subsided.

“The water is actively running over the spillway right now,” she said.

State Sen. Brenton Awa, a Republican who represents the North Shore, said the area that’s long been popular among tourists and renowned for it’s big-wave action, has seen a lot of development and newcomers in recent years. “It’s not the North Shore I knew when I was a kid,” he said, adding that he wonders how this unprecedented flooding will further change the area.

He said he read reports that some people couldn’t evacuate because of the flooding. “Right now it’s a community in isolation, they’re cut off,” he said.

The state regulates 132 dams across Hawaii, most of them built as part of irrigation systems for the sugar cane industry, according to a 2019 infrastructure report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In 2006, seven people were killed when the Ka Loko dam on the island of Kauai collapsed and water rushed downhill.