Posted on 03/14/2006 1:17:53 PM PST by SmithL
Honolulu (AP) --
A dam burst on the island of Kauai on Tuesday, and seven people were missing, the Coast Guard said.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
The rain in hawaii has been non-stop for weeks now.
Prayers they are found alive and well.
Bush hates mokes.
The mountain in the center of this island is the wettest place on God's spinning mudball.
How many milli-seconds passed before the media blamed Bush?
Something along the lines of "Bush probably ordered Rove to have Cheney contact Haliburton and have them blow up the dam."
You got it all wrong!! Karl Rove, on orders from Bush, sold the weather control machine to the UAE.
Just dam.
Anyone have a dam map?
LOL!!! That's a good one.
Does anyone know what part of Kauai it is? We were there last year .
First reports out of the Kilauea area on the North Shore of Kaua‘i early today indicate that an earthen dam gave way on Morita Reservoir near the 21 mile marker of Kuhio Highway.
Reports indicated a 50-foot wall of water laden with debris shortly after 5 a.m....
as many as five homes may have been washed away. One of them was occupied by seven people at the time.
There are two evacuation centers set up by the Red Cross. One is at Kula School on Kapuna Road at the 19 mile marker. The other is at Kilauea Neighborhood Center on Kahalou in Kilauea.
Bush's dam fault.
God help them! Prayers up!
Awful
Then we will have the likes of professional mirror gazer Kanye West saying "Bush hates Hawaiians". I just love the hypocrisy of guys like that. Last year my apt building burnt down and I lost everything mostly from the water from the firemen. I had no insurance and I lost everything including $25k in music studio equipment..The red cross set me up for a few days then I stayed with relatives until I found a new place. Where was the celebrity telethon for me? Does Kanye think this means that Bush hates all Jewish taxi drivers now? For three days the only thing I had on me was a pair of pants and socks. Why didn`t Bush immediately send me 1000`s of bucks? How dare he!
Where is FEMA.
Officials closed Kuhio Highway between Hanalei and Princeville early Tuesday morning.
Crews also closed the highway at Wailapa Road, east of Kilauea.
Kauai County Civil Defense says the nearby Waiakalua Reservoir overflowed mauka of the highway.
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/7999595/detail.html
I live on the Big Island of Hawaii and the rain here has been intense as well. But thankfully nothing as bad as a dam bursting. I have friends on Kauai. I hope they are ok.
some 12-hour rainfall totals ending Tuesday at 8 a.m. (in inches):
Kauai:
Mount Waialeale 5.21
Omao 5.11
Lihue Airport 4.21
Wailua 3.75
Lihue Variety Station 3.43
Kokee 2.70
Port Allen 2.56
Hanalei 2.49
Hanalei River 2.38
Makaha Ridge 2.12
Oahu:
Kahuku 2.45
Kahuku Training Area 2.38
Kii 2.10
HONOLULU - A dam on the Hawaiian island of Kauai apparently failed Tuesday, sending torrents of water gushing from a reservoir to the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Guard said. Seven people were reported missing.
Coast Guard spokesman Michael De Nyse said the dam burst was reported around midmorning.
It has rained heavily across Kauai in the past few days.
A Coast Guard helicopter was on the scene looking for the missing people.
State Rep. Hermina Morita, whose district includes the area where the dam burst, said a constituent who had spent the night away from home returned and was searching for four family members.
She said the Kauai resident, whom she did not identify, told her the force of the water swept debris into the ocean about three miles away from the constituent's home.
There was no warning about the dam's strength or the amount of water in the reservoir behind it, Morita said.
"I think everybody was taken by surprise," she said.
Ray Lovell, a spokesman for state Civil Defense, said he could not provide details because his office was still learning about the incident.
Kauai is the westernmost of Hawaii's main islands.
It's about a mile before you turn off to the right to visit the Kilauea Lighthouse.
On the above page is a link to a "HIGH QUALITY TOPO MAP".
I am only about 4 miles from the reservoir that was breeched. And there is another reservoir that drains into the Kalihiwai River that is structurally unsound, and has been since the Corp of Engineers assessed it after Iniki. If that one goes, there will be another disaster. Reportedly, the 60 ft high Kuhio Highway bridge over the Kalihiwai River has experienced some scouring around the foundations. As a structural engineer, this is normally accounted for by deep drilled concrete piers into bedrock. But this is the 3rd world corrupt state of Hawaii where half-assed is deemed OK, so who knows.
They know nothing about its government. They only know that it's the place they want to go for their 50th wedding anniversary.....and if they should meet the territorial governor of the islands, Don Ho, so much the better.
Leni
Prayers for ALL involved!!!
Keep us informed,take care
"Crews were concentrating search efforts in the area of Kilauea Bay known as Rock Quarry Beach."
http://starbulletin.com/breaking/breaking.php?id=4279
How is your drinking water and electrical power ?
Huh. I would have thought the bottom of the ocean, but......
And, what say you two?
I though the ocean was wetter.
Power and water are fine. I'm not really worried, but I was just told by a guy who has been here that the Kalihiwai River bridge was constructed back in the 60's using beach sand in the concrete. The beach sand has some residual sea salt in it, which would contribute greatly to the corrosion of the reinforcing steel in the bridge. Not only that, but following Hurricane Ewa in 1982, the foundations of the bridge had to be underpinned. If the bridge goes down, the North Shore of Kauai will be effectively isolated. I just sent my wife to the grocery store in Princeville, so as long as my computer works, I don't care. As for drinking water, the skies will provide - we get from 85 to 150 inches of rain a year.
Thanks, I finally got it loaded on my dial-up. My son and his family visited the lighthouse when he was back in Hawaii on R&R from Afghanistan last year. I got a postcard.
Which is the "dry side" of Kauai?
Take care.
Actually, it IS a lot worse here. The building departments on the mainland scrutinize permit drawings closely - but not here on Kauai. As a registered structural engineer with 27 years experience, I can testify that only about 10% of the construction has been adequately designed. The State of Hawaii permits architects to do structural engineering and I have found that some of these bozos are still using old-growth lumber stress values that have been outdated since the 1980's, and not a single one of them has a clue about designing for wind forces here in Hawaii's Hurricane Alley.
Are the bridges from Princeville to Hanalei to Haena...closed ?
I'm not sure, but I wouldn't be at all surprised. The Hanalei River bridge was closed last week under much less rain.
KAUAIBOUND maybe busy.
South and East is generally dry because the weather usually comes from the north or west.
But not always.
The southwest corner of the island, where Barking Sands and the Pacific Missile Testing Range is located. Cactus can actually be found from Poipu (mid-southern side of Kauai) westwards.
Thank you for the answers and good luck.
Prayers for you and yours and the people of Kauai.
We were in Maui a couple of weeks ago and it was great weather; tons of sun, some clouds. Friends the same week in Waikiki saw the sun one day. Maui is so beautiful!
3 Questions.
Does Dubai Ports World run the dam?
Was it Al Qaeda?
Was it Farakhans mystery barge?
Someone please connect the dots!!!!
Kidding--prayers for the missing (unless they are al Qaeda?)
My favorite of the Hawaiian Islands. Prayers up for the missing.
Thanks to both. I have a friend with the US Navy there and he's always said he's on the dry side of the island and was wondering how close to the trouble he was.
Best of luck.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.