HURRICANE SEASON ENDS IN KA`U today, leaving months of threats, damage and heavy weather events. The eye of Iselle came ashore at the Kamahame hawksbill turtle preserve at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 8. The power of Iselle’s leading edge dashed Puna, then circled back on Ka`u, slamming Wood Valley as mauka-makai winds laid down thousands of macadamia and coffee trees, destroyed a bridge on Wood Valley Road and broke huge albizia, silver oak and eucalyptus trees onto roads. At least one tree fell on a resident’s car. Wood Valley residents, cut off from Pahala, reported deafening thunder and lightning. Wood Valley roads were impassable for days, and residents lost power and water. Shelters opened in Pahala, and the county delivered water to farms and homesteads. Electricity was restored nearly a week later. Beach parks reopened after a day of caution. Schools, medical clinics, community centers, banks and credit unions were closed as county and state road crews cleaned up remnants of trees and debris and as Hawaiian Electric Light Co. attempted to restore electricity. Hwy 11 reopened Friday evening after floodwaters receded at low-lying Kawa between Punalu`u and Honu`apo. The detour used for most of the day was the old sugar cane haul road between Na`alehu and Pahala along the mountainside. One Pahala resident described it as somewhat daunting with gorges, waterfalls and new waterways cut by Iselle, but also incredibly beautiful. Following Iselle was powerful Hurricane Julio, which passed north of the state. Before Iselle, Genevieve threatened the islands but ended up staying to the south as she moved northwest. After forming in the central Pacific, Tropical Storm Ana gained strength and became a category-one hurricane as it approached Hawai`i Island south of South Point Friday, Oct. 17. While spared of strong winds due to the center of the storm being about 115 miles from South Point, Ka`u got pounded with rain for hours. Ka`u took a direct hit from Tropical Storm Iselle as she came ashore. Image from Weather Underground The constant downpours flooded Hwy 11 in the Kawa area, filled streams – some to overflowing – and created waterfalls in the mountains above Hwy 11 and in Wood Valley. The falls are so intermittent that some tumble without names. One resident said one of the waterfalls was Kawaileleonuuanu, and another identified one as Hilea. Wood Valley residents were once again cut off when water covered the road at the Kapapala Ranch intersection. A tree branch on Center Road fell across electric lines, taking out power to some homes in the valley. Aikane Plantation Coffee Farm on Ka`alaiki Road reported 5.5 inches of rain. “Thank God for no wind,” said owner Merle Becker. “Trees are heavy with cherries and a little bent over from all the rain, but we got through it.” On Friday night a rain gauge at Kapapala Ranch showed rain falling at two to three inches per hour as bands or precipitation from the storm reached the slopes of Mauna Loa, with heaviest amounts from Volcano to Pahala and Wood Valley. National Weather Service reported that Kapapala recorded 7.5 inches in a 24-hour period. Legend was that a hurricane would never come on shore on the Big Island, the big mountains pushing them away and spinning them off to places like Kaua`i, which has seen the most hurricane devastation in the past half century. Hurricane Flossie in 2007 seemed to prove the point. She hung off the cliffs of Ka Lae and spun herself out, never hopping up onto the island. Iselle, however, once a category four, blew straight ashore on the Big Island, slightly weakening from a hurricane to a tropical storm just before landfall.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 01:49:39 +0000
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