Kona low storm on Big Island leaves behind property damage, cleanup and dead goats

Randy Morris was watching TV in his Kealakekua home Saturday night when an emergency alert about a flash flood blared over his phone, followed by his son yelling from outside.

“A wall of water was just coming down the hill,” recalled Morris, whose home is on the Hawai‘i Belt Road, or Route 11, on Pu‘u Pueo Road, just north of the Kona Community Hospital.

As water rushed over a rock wall and into his property, with at least a foot of water pooling in the carport of his house, Morris evacuated his family of five and three dogs.

“Never in my life have I seen this kind of storm,” said the 56-year-old Morris, who has seen impacts of past storms, including 1992 Hurricane Iniki. “We’re not ready for this kind of rain.”

On Monday, Hawai‘i County Mayor Kimo Alameda said while the Kona low weather system has passed, the impacts are still present with downed trees and overly saturated ground, which can prompt landslides.

Alameda said the county responded to 25 to 30 calls to save people’s lives when heavy rain bands hit Ka‘ū and South Kona.

Hawai‘i County Assistant Fire Chief Darwin Okinaka said between the Ka‘ū and South Kona Districts, 18 to 20 people were rescued. There were no serious injuries reported.

There was one instance near Keahole Point where a tree fell on a motorcyclist, according to reports from the National Weather Service on Saturday. Okinaka said that was more related to the wind.

Hawai‘i County spokesperson Tom Callis said that the individual was transported to Honolulu for further medical treatment.

Alameda said an islandwide damage assessment is underway. As of Monday morning, the county received 20 residential damage reports and five commercial damage reports. Click here to report damage.

“The west side had taken some cracks,” Alameda said Monday. “You’re talking 15 inches plus rain in some areas.”

Thomas Vaughan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu, said the most significant rain occurred on Saturday, with widespread flooding reported throughout the state.

Preliminary five-day precipitation reports as of March 15 indicate:

• Kahuku Ranch in the Ka‘ū District recorded 19.44 inches of rain.
• Kealakekua in the South Kona District recorded 11.11 inches of rain.
• Kaloko-Honokohau in the North Kona District recorded 7.77 inches of rain.
• Waikōloa in the South Kohala District recorded 3.17 inches of rain.
• Hilo Airport in the Hilo District recorded 3.04 inches of rain.

Vaughan said Hilo set a daily record for March 14 with 5.6 inches of rain recorded, beating the previous record of 2.8 inches in 2018.

Click here to see all rainfall measurements in the state.

Morris said the downstairs unit of his house was flooded and he was going to have to replace all the flooring.

But Morris said his neighbor, Tom Greenwell, was hit harder.

Greenwell, owner of Greenwell Farms in South Kona, said the storm took out the farm’s water supply. Images of his driveway showed exposed roots of a large monkey pod tree, broken asphalt on the driveway and cracked earth carved up by the raging flood waters.

Greenwell said his team’s first concern is trying to make the place safe.

Alameda said in every district on the island, county crews were clearing fallen trees and boulders off roads. But the area particularly hit hard was in the Ka‘ū District.

Highway 11 in Waiʻōhinu, about 2 miles north of Nā‘ālehu, was a raging river, according to resident Christine Inserra.

“This was the worst storm in my entire life,” Inserra said Monday. “It was slow-moving and relentless.”

Inserra described the rain as if someone were throwing buckets of water from every direction.

“The storm was at its wildest after sunset” on March 14, Inserra said. “We were up all night monitoring.”

Alameda said there was concern at one point that the culvert behind Highway 11 would be completed flooded. While there was a shelter open at the Nā‘ālehu Community Center, Alameda said they worked with community members to move those seeking shelter to higher ground at the elementary school gym, just in case.

Video captured by Inserra of the storm’s aftermath showed broken-up asphalt by the old Wong Yuen Store off Highway 11, gaping potholes and boulders in the roadway. She also some flooding underneath her post-and-pier home.

An image that captured the damage of Kona Town was the destroyed roof of Happiness Kona in Historic Kailua Village on Ali‘i Drive.

Restaurant owner Dylan Ward said he didn’t know the extent of the damage, which would be assessed by the landlord and property manager . But customers reached out to him after seeing the dilapidated roof.

“Even my grandmother was shedding tears,” Ward said. “It’s kind of like losing someone in the family. You don’t really want to talk about it.”

After the storm passed, Ward said seven doves flew out of the building, which he took as a beautiful sign.

“We’ll rebuild it and take care of it,” Ward said of the restaurant. “You can’t keep the people of Happiness down.”

Naka Nathaniel, board of directors for the Kawaihae Club, said members of the club went down to the harbor on Sunday morning to check out the impacts of the storm where they found dead goats and debris washed up on the beach.

“None of us are animal behaviorists, but we’re guessing the goats sheltered in the gullies and were washed into the harbor,” Nathaniel said.

Sherman Warner, one of the club members who went down to assess the area, said they were looking at about a foot and a half of leaves, branches and other debris on the boat ramp and beach.

He also counted 15 goats washed up or floating in the small boat harbor.

Alameda said the county reached out to the Department of Health for help in addressing this situation.