LIHU‘E — Hanalei School principal Corey Nakamura said if there were extra bottles of water, his students could use them.

Unfortunately, all of the 55 cases of 1 liter bottled water were quickly picked up, said Julia Hall, the Kaua‘i County director of the American Red Cross.

Hall was working with volunteers to have the water distributed Monday afternoon at the Hanalei school parking lot for residents needing drinking water after service for the Hanalei area was disrupted following a water line break.

The flooding caused by heavy rains Saturday created the disruption and forced Hanalei School to close due to the lack of drinking water.

“The American Red Cross continues to respond to flooding that occurred Saturday,” Hall said in a release. “Volunteers were dispatched Monday and Tuesday to affected areas to assess damages to residences and to interview affected families to address any immediate needs.”

Hall said in addition to the distribution of free bottled water in Hanalei, volunteers were going out with additional supplies of water, clean-up kits containing basic cleaning supplies, and comfort kits containing personal hygiene items. These are being distributed to those in need.

Bill Troutman, one of the County Emergency Response Team members from the North Shore, said the Kilauea Neighborhood Center was opened as a shelter after the Kalihiwai Bridge was closed late Saturday.

“We don’t normally open a shelter when the Hanalei Bridge closes,” Troutman said. “But when the Kalihiwai Bridge was closed, we needed to have a place to take care of all those people who couldn’t get past Kilauea.”

Disaster can strike quickly and without warning, states a release from the Red Cross. This was demonstrated when several families were stranded due to rapidly rising flood waters, Saturday.

The American Red Cross recommends that everyone develop a family disaster plan.

More information on how to set up a family disaster plan can be obtained by calling the American Red Cross at 245-4919, or visiting www.hawaiiredcross.org.

All Red Cross assistance to disaster victims is free.

The Red Cross is not a government agency and depends on public contributions to help others.

• Dennis Fujimoto, photographer and staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@kauaipubco.com