Posted on 04/29/2018 10:59:01 AM PDT by texas booster
Residents and businesses are still cleaning up from flooding that deluged parts of Kauai, but community leaders are urging tourists to keep coming so residents don’t suffer an economic calamity on top of record-breaking rains that smothered a normally green landscape in reddish-brown water.
Some travelers are canceling their reservations after getting the wrong impression the mid-April flooding damaged the entire Hawaiian island. Although landslides blocked roads and floods tore apart homes and uprooted trees, most of the island is unscathed. Nearly 50 inches of rain fell in one 24-hour period.
Some tourists are avoiding the island’s north shore where fast-moving waters swept away cars, even though many businesses have reopened.
The National Weather Service said preliminary data indicates Kauai broke a national rainfall record after a gauge 1 mile west of Hanalei recorded 49.69 inches during the 24-hour period ending at 12:45 p.m. on April 15. If certified, that would break the current record of 43 inches recorded in Alvin, Texas in 1979.
The island’s north shore towns of Haena and Wainiha will be off-limits until at least next month because landslides cut off Kuhio Highway, the only road connecting them to the rest of the island. Officials hope to open one lane by May 7 but only for emergency vehicles at first.
The blocked highway will prevent access to hiking trails hugging dramatic cliffs along the Napali Coast and popular beach parks at Haena.
At least this island doesn't mind taking mainland dollars.
Haven't been here but made a couple of other islands. Still one of my favorite destinations. I now vacation in the US rather than in other countries, although the islands can seem very other-worldly sometimes.
Kauai has the rainiest spot on earth.
My parents arrived in Princeville on Tuesday. Certainly, that was an incredible amount of rain, but that part of the island is built for it. I imagine life is 80-90% back to normal already.
They’re already saying - you guessed it - it’d due to CLIMATE CHANGE!!
curious title?
Kauai needs to tap the Zuckerberg account.
We left the afternoon of Friday the 13th on the Pride of America and went on a snorkeling excursion that morning . . . day before did a driving tour of Waimea Canyon. Kayaking on Hilo had to be altered on our day there . . . didn’t get to kayak up the river to the waterfalls . . . Class V or VI rapids going on. Very rainy and cloudy vacation overall but glad it wasn’t a total washout.
So the haole haters love the haole money? Nothing new there.
Major flooding, cars swept away and the paper is worried about tourist dollars?
At least the media still has its priorities. /sarc
Do they still have “Kill Haole Day” there?
But mudslides like these don't seem to happen that often.
Kauai is a beautiful place, with grand canyons, sea cliffs, great camping, and fine beaches. However, I ran into more than a couple of surfer girl/beach bum employees at several tourist spots who treated me like I was a bother instead of their bread and butter.
Hard to beat sipping a pina colada on Duke Kahanemoku’s deck at sunset, though.
Most of the rain happens in one place. In past, one of the walls of a large volcano collapsed, leaving what amounts to a giant catcher’s mitt facing where the moist air currents come in from the Pacific. Most people see it by helicopter, and it is pretty amazing, hundreds of small waterfalls all over the inside of the volcano, flowing through lush greenery.
But did the goats survive?
I live here.. Kill a Haoale Day does no longer exist. The towns that were hit hardest are 80 percent Southern Californian transplants who are yoga addicted hypochondriacs in search of relevance. They screamed “disaster, disaster” although nobody was hurt. So the tourists took heed when they all screamed about Hanalei being a zone of horror and disease, and now the tourist trap ripoff businesses are suffering the most and threatening to lay off the rude surfer kids who assist them in their price gouging... Ha
The best vacation I ever had was there. Absolutely beautiful. Loved the botanical gardens. Rum place. Great food. But if you put anything down anywhere it came up missing.
Duh
Lived there
The mountain on top of island is wettest spot on planet earth
Waialeale
600 plus inches a Year
This should surprise none
Par for the course
Also the island is one giant mountain
The water disappeared in about a day
No flooding like Iowa for example
Spent about two weeks on your island once. It is a truly wonderful place with great people. It made me see why some people abandon all mainland connection and move there and never leave.
Why don’t they just sue the crap out of the developer that filled in the floodplain so they could build condos?
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