I just got an update from the north shore. The phone just came back on in Haena.
Now that the worst storm conditions have eased up and it possible to get out to assess the situation, the extensive damage is coming to light.

There is damage all over the island, but my family is stuck in Haena near the end of the road past Hanalei. There are about 15 landslides between hanalei and the end of the road, some very large. They will take at least many days/ weeks to get cleared.
Then there is a section of the road built on a ledge of a Clift that is gone completely.

Estimates are ranging into many months to get that repaired or rerouted. In the mean time the powers that be, are suggestions that the few hundred folks living out that way depart for the duration.
But these are pretty self suffiencent folks out there. Many need to be cleaning out their houses and keeping them from going to ruin. Others just don't want to leave their places empty for all that can happen in their absence. Plus where to go elsewhere with many displaces people all over the island.

On the plus side folks all over the island are donating food and goods for the relief of those in problem areas.

Our house is right accross the road from the YMCA camp, now the distribution point for relief goods being flown in And for folks to fly out.
Margaret Said the constant big helos flying right over the house is starting to get to her. Even Chinooks are flying in there, 30' to 50' over the house on final approach to touch down. Great to have the help, unfortunate route for my fam and the near neighbors.

I was able to see more pics of the impact and realize the recovery is going to take a while all over the island, especially for Wainiha and Haena, and parts of Hanalei, but at least Hanalei has access to the stores and supplies needed.

Alex, looks like your trip will have some impact, especially if you are staying in Hanalei, you might want to check on the condition of the place you are planning to be staying. I've seen many pics of damaged places in Hanalei.

Oh I just read that the trail to the beach I have been telling you about has been closed by land owners in the area, the county is suing to reopen access. May have to save that for another trip.
But you know Kauai , Alex, go there with aloha in your heart and you will be rewarded.

IROC, I hope your friends are staying in poipu or the east side area, some of the least impacted.

The weather is still unsettled and another storm is forecast shortly.
So it's not clear when things will get back to normal.

I'm pretty sure some neighbors in our area will be getting their boats into action soon to provide a ferry service to Hanalei and back for those that want to stay in Haena. That s what Id be doing if I was still there. It's a little dicy keeping a boat in the water there this time of the year. This is a thing I have more experence at than most. I'll be calling the other likely guys to offer tips and ground tackle I still have there to help in getting a mooring set up. I may end up heading that way to help out depending on how things go, and what the Ex decides she needs.

It's hard not being there now to be helping out. I do love that place and the spirit of the folks there.

Cheers Richard

A friend of mine is native to Kauai, he posted pictures of the Hanalei pier with no water around it?

The only thing I can think of is the river cut a deep trough that drained the water from the bay?

Scott, check out some of these pics. There is a house bobbing out to sea in the bay, and much more yikes!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155952788524342&set=pcb.101559527 88824342&type=3&theater

I think that the material removed from the area inshore from the pier probably ended up stacking up around the pier. Lots of changes!

From my friends FB page:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1524094701.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1524094718.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1524094743.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1524094760.jpg

For those who haven't been to Hanalei on a regular day you can easily swim under this pier.

Dang, I guess the Haena shuttle boat won't be dropping folks off at the pier.

I'm looking around on Craigslist for a vehicle for transport on the town side of the blockages. Margaret can probably find somewhere in Hanalei to park it between trips to town. Most likely do some carpooling with neighbors for shopping trips with it.

I'm just riffing here on how to deal with the next few months. Just a little of the scrambling in the aftermath of this sort of event.

Fortunately getting back to the good life on most of the island will be much quicker.
Except for those who's houses were swept out to sea.
Wow what images!

There was a housing crunch happening on Kauai before this, so there will really be a scramble now.

On the plus side apparently the relief supplies are stacking up for delivery to those most impacted. After living thru a couple of hurricanes , Kauaians are very supportive to those in need.

Cheers Richard

Richard - Any early prediction on when the road can be repaired?......This is all very sad....

Unfortunately, it looks like more rain on the way.

What many don’t see is that Kauai is shaped like a Hershey’s Kiss. At the top, is the wettest place in the US. Over the centuries, all the rain has carved beautiful canyons running down to the sea with awesome beaches where the canyons meet the sea and sharp ridges between them. In fact, one of the largest canyons in the US is on Kauai. When I lived in Hawaii, the north shore of Kauai was almost desolate as it was hard to access. One of the cool things we did was hired a helicopter service that would take you and your gear and drop you in one of these isolated beaches with supplies for a designated period of time (we chose one week) and then return to pick you up at the end of that time. This was before cell phones and it was like being on a deserted island.

I feel for the people of Kauai. This is a horrible situation that I fear may get worse before the rains end.

Hey Bob, it's all pretty speculative at this point. Three machines from our side took this long to get thru the first landslide. I'd imagine there are more resources working on the Hanalei end.
It s an unpressedented amount of landslides they are working thru.

But really it's the lost section of road bed that's the big challenge.
It's in an area where the road is built on a ledge of a pretty clifty section of hillside between Wainiha and Lumahai. All very steep hillside. They are looking for an inland route, but that not likely to happen in any reasonable period.

They will probably have to build an elevated road section hanging on the hillside.

I'm sure the Vash types will come up with something once they can get to the area for a good look around.

Some of our neighbors have hiked to Hanalei and back and were pretty shook up with what they saw.

Hopefully the weather will let things keep moving along.

Thru the years I've biked and walked the road and am always amazed at the road ever being there in the first place. Some very challenging terrain for road building. Same reason there is no road around the Na Pali.

Will just have to wait to see what can be done.
Thanks Bob for your concern. I'll keep you posted.

Mreid, I'd never thought of Kauai like a chocolate kiss, but it sure is sweet.
Good discription of the terrain.

This is a pic of surfing into the arch at Honopu, might have been the place you camped

Neat you got to have such a special Na Pali experence. Lots of mana on that coast for sure.

Cheers Richardhttp://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1524155081.jpg

We didn’t have that cool arch, Richard, but it was similar other than that with nice sized waves crashing on the beach. We were in our 20’s and invincible. We spent much of the days hiking and bodysurfing. Once, we tried to swim to another cove, but almost got killed on the rocks. Great times and a special place.

My best to you and your family. Hawaiians have a unique way of coming together and helping each other through tough times. Once the rain finally clears, people will rally and work together for the common cause. I do need to get back there for a mana recharge one of these days.

Take care Richard. How did your property fare, other than the swamped pool?

I was lucky at my house as I only got mud in the garage, driveway and washroom. My neighbors got it bad. One has 3 feet of mud in her house. Three others had mud and water come in and wreck their houses. Furniture and other belongings got destroyed. The drainage canal was overwhelmed and the mud and water came up over the top. Same thing happened during the New Years flood in '88.

Stay safe as there is more rain to come today and tomorrow.

Thanks for the update Richard! Tough to imagine that most beautiful part of the North shore no longer being accessible....Ke'e Beach and the Kalalau trail are one of our favourite spots there...Sad, and I feel for the locals being caught behind washed out roads. Lots of Aloha sent ahead of our upcoming trip!

We're still heading out as we speak. We're staying at our TS at the Hanalei Bay Resort, which talking to staff there was minimally impacted being on higher ground in Princeville, for the week of April 29 and then spending 4 days in Poipu.

Is there anything that we can bring to help some people out?

A quick update.
On Thursday Margaret and the boys flew out on one of the last evacuation choppers.
The need to have access to schools etc was the main reason.
The folks checking into our condo late Friday contacted Margaret offering to share the condo for their 10 days stay. Wow nice aloha there.

A friend is going off island for a short while and offered her car and house for that time.
So things seem to be working out for now.

I see in the local paper that they hope to get a single lane service road thru in a couple of weeks for equipment and work crews. Then will be better able to asses and estimate total repair time. There are other recovery and repairs to be done all over the island also.

Awe Bryan, sorry to hear that your neighborhood on Oahu was also damaged. I do remember that big flood storm there some years ago. Some drainages are hard to live around when these big ones come thru. I hope your area gets back to normal soon. Glad you didn't suffer too much damage.

Alex, thanks for your kind offer. Supplies are flowing in, but I'll let you know if any things comes to mind. My buddy has been playing music at HBR a lot just lately, seems all is going well there.

My thanks to all here, for the well wishes. From what I'm hearing from Kauai, people are stepping up to help get things back together, lots of aloha flowing.

Cheers Richard

I live nowhere near the ocean but believe that a departing strong low pressure system can create this situation...hurricanes can do this too. Does that explain the image?

[QUOTE=tevake;10004393]http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1523926812.jpg

This pic of the hanalei pier area really blows my mind, so much washed away, must have lost five feet or more where the road used to be.


What happened around the pier, is the River flood waters flowed over the access road going to the beach next to the pier. It dug out bunches of sand there and further upstream. Taking it down to the pier and dropping it there. Essentially building up the bottom right up to normal sea level. Now that the flood is subsiding, the deposited sands are there. Stranding the pier till currents move it away. That may not happen till next winters big north swells .

Best wishes to you and your ohana, Richard. That pier is kinda crazy as it looks like tsunami action.

I'm glad KPD caught the guy trying to extort rescue victims. For those that don't know, people were stranded in N. Kauai, and a boat pulls up to rescue them. 200 yds offshore, the boater tells them $200 for the rescue or you swim back to shore. There is a special place in Hell for those people.

Kauai police say some flood-trapped residents were extorted duri - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL

Any further updates on the situation in the north shore Richard? We'll be there Sunday evening and was wondering if the road is still impassable beyond Hanalei?

Much Aloha to all those affected!

Just found out that in their estimation, Kuhio Highway beyond Hanalei will be open to one way traffic May 7.....

It would be nice if they are able to get the road open that soon. What I've heard is that they are trying to get a single lane open for work crews and equipment trucks to have access to get things moving on long term repairs.

May not be open to public for some time after that. Will have to wait and see.

My buddy that has one of the Na Pali kayak tour companies is thinking they may not have a season this year, because of lack of access at both ends of the coast. It's bad in polihale on the west side also.

As far as my family is concerned, they have been put up in an available In Law unit near Kiluea, by a school family from Adrian's school.

We have found a used truck , that Margaret has bought for trans in the mean time.
I did a lot of coaching from afar, don't think she has ever bought a used vehicle before.
But she did a good job of looking around at all that was available. And got a Mobil mechanic to check out her choice.
There is a bit of a rush on used vehicles right now.

Alex, looks like most of Princeville is doing well. HBR is fine. So you may be finding some new places to check out on your vacation. The heiau in Wailua near the big waterfall is pretty cool to visit, there is a forest park up above Wailua to go check out, as well a Budist temple. some neat drives up that way too.
Kokee is worth doing some hikes in too. You may be driven to find even more new parts of Kauai on this trip.

I'll be interested in hear your impressions of how Hanalei and the rest of Kauai is coming along.

Cheers Richard

Just caught this thread Richard. I'm wishing you and your family the best and everyone else affected.

Thanks Drcoastline, the crisis part of this flood is over, now its the long slog of recovery.
I'm very looking forward to heading to Kauai for a couple of weeks in June to hang with our younger son. And hopefully help getting the pool cleaned up and back in action. And what ever else can be done at that time.

Its interesting how one local is really messed up and others basically unscathed.
Our place came thru very well, if we could just get to it.

Cheers Richard