Muddy stormwaters roil at Pahihi Gulch at Kaupo Gap on Thursday following heavy rains in East Maui. MPD photos
Rains from the kona low soaked East Maui Wednesday and Thursday, causing multiple road closures, shutting down Hana High & Elementary and forcing the opening of two emergency shelters.
“The wind is very strong and the rain is pounding,”Hana resident Hilary Lang said around 7 a.m. Thursday.
Lang and her husband, Alejandro Lopez Arce, own and operate Hana Lokahi Farms, which appeared to have not suffered any damages due to the weather, Lang said via Facebook messenger Thursday afternoon.
“I haven’t left our farm,”she added. “The roads in and out of Hana were blocked today due to streams breaching the bridges and multiple landslides.”
Claire Kamalu Carroll, who commuted from Hana to her job in Kahului before dawn, said water was close to reaching the roadways at that time.
Floodwaters flow across Hana Highway at Mile Post 28 on Thursday.
“Last night, it was high winds already, heavy rains,”she said around midmorning Thursday in between fielding calls from community members regarding the weather and its impacts.
She said that “it’s starting to settle down.”
The National Weather Service in Honolulu advanced a flood watch to a flash flood warning early Thursday. Around 1:15 p.m. the weather service downgraded the warning to a watch, which will remain in effect for all the Hawaiian islands through this afternoon, the county said. There is still a possibility of flash flooding and thunderstorms.
Conditions will improve during the weekend into early next week as drier air moves in and trade winds return, the National Weather Service said.
On Thursday, nearly 10 inches of rain, the highest rainfall total in the state, were recorded in the U.S. Geological Survey’s rain gauge near Keanae in a 24-hour period ending at 1 p.m., the county said.
A Maui Police Department vehicle stops along the flooded roadway at Nuu at Kaupo Gap following heavy rains in East Maui on Thursday.
Other areas receiving significant rainfall included the Kula 1 gauge receiving 2.71 inches of rainfall and Kepuni on the southern slope of Haleakala, which had 1.36 inches of rainfall, both in a 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
The heavy rains caused flooding and landslides, which forced several East Maui and Upcountry road closures, including in Hana and Ulupalakua Thursday morning.
By Thursday afternoon, multiple road closures along Hana Highway were lifted as well as a road closure at Mile Post 28 on Piilani Highway, the county reported.
But flooding at Nuu, Kaupo Gap, a portion of roadway that is typically overwhelmed during heavy rain, remained closed in the afternoon, cutting off Kaupo from Kipahulu, the county said.
Both the county and state said crews were busy cleaning debris Thursday that they had also taken precautionary measures in East Maui. The state said crews checked areas around Hana Highway prior to the kona low and the county said that each district, including East Maui, has dedicated crews that clear culverts and drainage ditches.
One person was at the emergency shelter at Hana High and Elementary School around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, the county said, adding the shelter would close at 7:30 p.m. Thursday as the American Red Cross opened a shelter at the Eddie Tam Memorial Center in Makawao at the same time for those unable to reach homes in areas including Kaupo and Kahikinui.
The state Department of Education said Hana school was closed Thursday as “heavy rains prompted unsafe road conditions and buses couldn’t run.”
There was light rain in the burn zone in Lahaina, with National Weather Service gauges Lahainaluna and Lahaina Portable recording 0.32 inches and 0.27 inches, respectively, in a 24-hour period ending at 1 p.m. Thursday, the county said.
The county Department of Public Works reported success with tools deployed to trap ash and debris and filter out potential contaminants before entering the storm drain system.
Multiple crews and contractors were cleaning up debris where it accumulated and adjusting as needed in anticipation of subsequent rains, the county said.
* Staff Writer Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.
Muddy stormwaters roil at Pahihi Gulch at Kaupo Gap on Thursday following heavy rains in East Maui. MPD photos 
A Maui Police Department vehicle stops along the flooded roadway at Nuu at Kaupo Gap following heavy rains in East Maui on Thursday. 
Floodwaters flow across Hana Highway at Mile Post 28 on Thursday.Today's breaking news and more in your inbox
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