HANALEI — Pine Trees was flooded Thursday morning. Waves washed over the road at Anini. Simply put, conditions were dangerous on the North Shore. Aric Acorda, a lifeguard at Haena Beach Park, said the surf was the highest he’s seen
HANALEI — Pine Trees was flooded Thursday morning. Waves washed over the road at Anini.
Simply put, conditions were dangerous on the North Shore.
Aric Acorda, a lifeguard at Haena Beach Park, said the surf was the highest he’s seen in the six months he’s been at the post.
“We’ve closed off the beach to keep everyone safe,” he said.
Terry Lilley, marine biologist from Hanalei, was checking out the conditions at Tunnels Beach.
“For the first time today, we saw a yard and fences going into the ocean,” he said.
About 4 p.m. Lilley said he was at Lumahi Beach, where there was a massive surge of surf.
“A wave came in and took out a 40-foot tree right next to me,” he said. “I got video of the whole thing.”
Lilley said he dropped by Tunnels again at 5 p.m. where the waves were washing 30 feet up the beach and trees were perched to crash into the water.
“We’ve never seen this, ever,” he said. “That one tree at Tunnels is 100 years old.”
Bill “Lantana” Davis is a long-time camper at Haena Beach Park. But Thursday morning, his regular camping spot was littered with debris.
He said that’s because high surf, with waves nearly 30 feet in height, had washed up onto the grass.
“I might clean it up a little bit and move my tent, but then again, I have that table over there,” Davis said, pointing to his tent, which was laid out by a picnic table. “That’s pretty great, because I can put my stuff on it.”
Lilley said the big waves that hammered the North Shore are the result of three major players: rising sea levels, dying corals, and El Nino storms.
“We’ve never seen these kind of conditions before,” Lilley said. “Today, we got to the point in places where there was no beach.”
