Flash Flood in Hawaii, November 1 to 2, 2000

Upper air instability and remnants of a tropical cyclone combined to generate torrential rains that produced severe flash flooding over eastern and southeastern parts of the Big Island on the 1st and 2nd of November. Twenty-four hour rainfall totals were as high as 25 to 37 inches, the latter figure being only one inch off the statewide record of 38 inches of rain in 24 hours set in January 25, 1956, in Kilauea, Kauai.Four young men from Panaewa saved a woman and her three grandchildren from flood waters that were flowing through the woman's residence. The men took the flood victims--one by one--to safety by ferrying them to the roof of a nearby carport using an inflatable plastic wading pool. The family was later rescued from the roof by firefighters.Public and private damage from the flood waters has been estimated at a cost of $70 million. The Red Cross indicated that the number of homes and apartments destroyed in the flooding had reached 33, with another 265 residential units damaged. Parts of several major roads, including Highway 11 in Kau and Highway 19 and Komohana Street in Hilo, will remain closed for weeks, if not months, until destroyed bridges can be rebuilt. Although some temporary bypass roads have been constructed since the flood, inconveniences to residents and businesses continue.