Kona storm surprises Kaua’i

The windiest day on Kaua’i since Hurricane ‘Iniki struck in 1992 brought gusts up to 58 mph Wednesday morning. Over three inches of rain dumped on some sections of the island between 11 a.m. Tuesday and 11 a.m. Wednesday.

A quick-hitting cold front brought the windy, rainy weather, surprising island residents.

Clear skies and lighter winds arrived yesterday afternoon, providing good weather for the clean-up job faced by island residents as they cleared downed trees, still facing intermittent power outages.

Some workers were given an unexpected day off, with offices, stores, and businesses closed across Kaua’i.

Beaches were closed from Mana to Wainiha, partly due to storm-generated surf and high winds, and partly due to the arrival on the North Shore of what might be the highest surf of the 2003-2004 winter.

Paulette Burtner, shop manager of the Koke’e Natural History Museum, said weather in the island’s highland forest “seemed a lot like a hurricane” when the storm front passed. She said there were a lot of fallen trees in the area, and that power returned about 3 p.m. thanks to Kaua’i Island Utilities Cooperative workers spending the day repairing lines.

“It felt almost like a hurricane, that’s for sure,” said Marion Morita of Lihu’e, receptionist at the Kaua’i Visitors Bureau office on Rice Street in Lihu’e.

“My house was shaking. To me, it was pretty scary,” she said.

“I think because we experienced (Hurricane) ‘Iniki, it’s, ‘OK, we haven’t had winds like that in some time,'” Morita said.

In town overnight, there were high winds, lots of debris, “a lot of rattling and a lot of power surges, the neighbor’s trash can in my garage,” she said.

Narciso Gorospe, an employee at Paradise Service station in Lihu’e, said he was asleep at his home in Wailua Houselots when the winds picked up and whistled loudly yesterday morning.

He said when he awoke, he saw conditions that “reminded me of Hurricane ‘Iniki.”

The whipping winds, the flying debris, the fallen trees and debris on the road caused his “heart to skip a beat,” he said.

Shama Kumaran of ‘Eono Street in Lihu’e said she was driving down to Kalapaki Beach around 8 a.m. when she saw an alarming sight of “mailboxes on the ground, trees on the street, and signal lights out.

“It was kind of scary. It was like general chaos,” she said.

Christopher Kaplanis, a Kalihiwai resident, had an adventure going to check the surf in Hanalei yesterday morning.

“I was driving down to Hanalei around six this morning, when all of a sudden a branch came down and hit my front end and went over the roof of my car,” he said.

The branch took out his right turn signal and left a dent on his mini-van. “I was lucky it didn’t break the windshield,” though, he said.

A short while later, while checking Waikoko’s, a 20-foot section of hau bush fell, blocking Kuhio Highway, Kaplanis said. So he took out his machete, cut the bush into pieces, and dragged them off the road.

The worst part, though, he said, was that the wind blew out all surf breaks on the North Shore.

He added a Hobie catamaran beached by Pinetrees was flipped over, laying on its side with the mast bent at a 90-degree angle.

Visitors Frank and Cheryl Weber of Minnesota were not surprised at Tuesday’s weather storm.

“The rain and wind didn’t bother us,” Frank Weber said, already tanned after four days on Kaua’i. “It’s easier to handle that than sub-zero wind chills.”

The two outdoor-activity aficionados said they planned to drive to Waimea Canyon, but changed their plans after hearing of road closures around the island. And after finding out that Kahili Mountain Park, Grove Farm Homestead Plantation tours and all beaches were closed for business, they decided to take a detour to Po’ipu’s Spouting Horn, which was a buzz with visitors and locals alike.

“A storm 1,000 miles north of Kaua’i and its accompanying cold front” were responsible, said Roy Matsuda, lead forecaster for the National Weather Service in Honolulu. The cold front, he said, moved quickly, but generated the high winds and heavy rains.

In the 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Koke’e had picked up 3.65 inches of rain; Kapahi, 2.25 inches; Wainiha, 2.46 inches; Wailua, 1.61 inches; and Lihu’e Airport, .39 inches.

National Weather Service officials at Lihu’e Airport reported wind gusts up to 58-miles-per-hour, but Matsuda said wind gusts in other areas where wind gauges were not available were probably higher. Wind gusts reportedly reached 58 mph at Princeville Airport as well.

The onshore wind blast on south-facing shores generated wind-blown waves of up to 25-foot faces, forcing the county to close the coastline from Salt Pond in Hanapepe to Shipwreck’s (Keoneloa Bay) in Po’ipu.

Kuamo’o Road in Wailua was closed most of the day after trees were lying on power lines, said Cyndi Mei Ozaki, county public information officer. By mid-afternoon, crews had been able to open only one lane of that road, she said.

Kaua’i County Department of Public Works crews, meanwhile, went to Nawiliwili Road after 5 a.m. and moved debris from a broken roof to the side of the road. DPW crews also busily removed debris from other county roads.

Kaua’i police officers, meanwhile, manned several street intersections in Lihu’e to direct traffic after signal lights became inoperative as a result of power outages or shortages. They also checked on down wires and trees across roadways, which were widespread, said KPD Lt. Scott Yagihara of the traffic division.

He added that he was aware of only one accident, where a tree had fallen onto a couple of cars near Kipu, but no one was hurt.

Hanalei Fire Capt. Jay Harms said fallen trees partially blocked one of the lanes on Kuhio Highway by the Princeville Airport before sunrise.

“The tree was down when I went to work at 5:30 a.m., but there were state or county guys there, and the tree was cleared by 7 a.m.,” Harms said. A police officer directed traffic as the cleanup took place. A tree also fell along Ko’olau Road by Moloa’a.

A tree stump also fell on one lane of Kuhio Highway in Hanalei between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m., slowing traffic for a spell before it was removed by county workers, Harms said.

All public schools were opened for classes Wednesday morning, according to a spokeswoman for the Lihu’e district office of the state Department of Education, though a caller to The Garden Island reported that Hanalei School had been closed.

School officials early yesterday morning were trying to determine whether to close the North Shore school because the Hanalei River was near flooding as a result of heavy rains. “We are assessing the situation. It (water height in the river) is high, but not over the road,” said a DOE official.

The official said that as far as she knew, the wind and rain had done no damage to school buildings or facilities across the island.

At the island’s private schools, children were kept inside. Sean Magoon, admissions director for Island School in Puhi, said about 80 percent of students made it to class yesterday.

While four milo trees were uprooted on the Puhi campus, officials were hoping to salvage them. “The kids are doing fine, keeping indoors, enjoying education, and staying safe,” Magoon said.

Harms said he was not aware of any damages to buildings by yesterday’s high winds and rain.

A county DPW spokeswoman said two coconut trees and two large bougainvillea trees that fell near county facilities were removed for safety reasons.

One coconut tree cracked in half and fell by an office building at the Lihu’e Civic Center, and another did the same and fell in the lawn at the Lihu’e Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall. The cracked tree by the Lihu’e Civic Center was immediately cut up by county workers.

The other tree was to be cut up when high winds diminished and workers no longer needed to worry about flying debris.

The official said no one was hurt in either case. Work crews also disposed of the two fallen bougainvillea trees.

Port Allen Small Boat Harbor, meanwhile, was closed yesterday to allow for the retrieval of a Navy boat that had broken loose from its mooring as a result of high winds, said a state Department of Land and Natural Resources spokesman on Kaua’i. “Nawiliwili Harbor seems to be fine,” the official said.

The status of the torpedo recovery boat, a SD-73 which is normally moored there, was unknown as of press time.

“We don’t know yet” about the status of the boat, said Vida Mossman, public affairs specialist at the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Mana. They will asses the damage after removal of the boat, she said.

She added that an oil spill response team was sent to the harbor as a precaution, but no gas or oil was detected. Intermittent power outages were also the norm at the base, and all civil service personnel were sent home before noon.

While some residents stayed home and others went to work, visitors had few choices on what to do yesterday.

Golf courses, with the exception of Poipu Bay Golf Course, were closed due to debris on the golf course. “The course is a total mess,” said an official at Wailua Golf Course. There was lots of debris all over the course, fallen branches, uprooted coconut trees, he added. They hoped to have the course re-opened today, he said.

Charter boat tours were also canceled, as Port Allen Small Boat Harbor was closed. “We couldn’t go out even if we wanted to,” said Christie Linoz, reservations agent for Blue Dolphin Charters.

All helicopter service was grounded due to high winds as well.

Kaua’i Museum closed because tile flew off the roof, said the museum’s director, Carol Lovell.

“The courtyard’s a mess,” she added, “a liability waiting to happen.”

Even Wal-Mart was temporarily closed until power was completely restored. Partial power was available only by mid-afternoon. It is the first time Wal-Mart has closed due to weather and power conditions since their opening in 1993, said an assistant manager.