24 Hours of a Storm Passing Through

Friday, January 31, 2025

Well last night was quite the storm. This storm was passing through the Hawaii Island chain. It had already battered Ni’ihau, Kauai and Oahu and was now approaching the county of Maui made up of the islands of Maui, Lana’i, Moloka’i and Kahao’olawe.

Being a Kona storm, it came in from the south. Living on the north shore of Maui, the bulk of Haleakala protected us through the day - the winds were slight and the rain was non-existent. Meanwhile on the south side of the mountain they were getting battered - high winds, trees down, power out.

Around noon the power went out for a couple of hours. I have no idea why? The conditions around us could not have been more perfect. Maybe something went out further up the chain? Maybe Hawaiian Electric were just playing it safe?

Then late afternoon the wind picked up. An hour or so later the rains arrived. Scattered at first, a heavy downpour followed by a lull, they soon developed into a torrential deluge that just did not stop. Rivers started forming around the house, thanks to the grading when the house was built to direct water away from buildings. Still though the sheer quantity of water falling caused flooding on the lawn and it was creeping up to the house. Based on past experience, I didn’t think that it would come in…and hoped that this was not going to be a first time.

We went to bed listening to rain hammering down on the roof and battering against the windows.

Then sometime in the early hours the worst of the storm had passed over. The rain was coming down in fits and starts. The rivers and floods were drying up, though the ground was still squelchy this morning. By the time that I got up the storm had definitely passed. Some plant debris was scattered around the garden and some shrubs had been battered out of shape, otherwise all looked good. Even the power stayed on through it all - though I read this morning that around 3,000 customers were without power last night, and some without water.

One good thing about living here on Maui is that things will dry out in time. Another good thing about this rain is that it will keep Maui green - though preferably not such a violent downpour to keep the island green. This has been a dry winter. I do hope though that all through the State are safe. This was a fierce storm and a friend upcountry has described the storm water and flash flooding charging through the gulches as sounding “like jet engines.”

As I write this the storm will be over the Island of Hawai’i, The Big Island. Hoping everyone there manages to get through free from harm.