Heavy Rains Flood Hawaii's Oahu, Threatening Dam -- WSJ

Dow Jones03-22 05:44

By Jennifer Calfas and Joseph Pisani

Torrential rain in Hawaii's Oahu caused a historic flood that drenched communities and forced residents to evacuate, state leaders said Friday, as more rain was forecast to fall.

Gov. Josh Green said the flood is Hawaii's largest in two decades and could cause $1 billion in damage to infrastructure, including roads, airports and homes. Rescuers saved 233 people, officials said, with no reported fatalities or missing persons Friday.

The pouring rain threatened to overtop a dam, sending more water into surrounding communities, although Green said Saturday the threat to Wahiawa Dam had lessened. Still, 5,500 people were evacuated, he said.

"Don't take this storm lightly," Green said in a video posted on social media Saturday. A day before, he said water reached as high as people's chests in some areas.

Some homes were ripped off their foundations, said Ian Scheuring, a spokesman for the city and county of Honolulu. Evacuation notices early Friday urged residents in Waialua and Haleiwa, north of Honolulu: "LEAVE NOW or go to high ground or the highest floor of your home." By late Friday, an emergency alert warned all roads out of Waialua were "at risk of failure."

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning through early Saturday for Oahu. The agency issued flood-watch advisories through Sunday afternoon for all of the Hawaiian islands. "Stay vigilant this weekend," forecasts said early Saturday.

The storm is the second to affect the Hawaiian islands in a week, said Stephen Parker, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

The northern part of Oahu received 8 to 11 inches of rain Thursday into Friday, Parker said.

The ground is still wet from the storm last weekend, Parker added, making it difficult for the new rain to be absorbed into the ground and causing streams to overflow.

"Even for a tropical area, that is a tremendous amount of rain," he said.

Write to Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 21, 2026 17:44 ET (21:44 GMT)

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Heavy Rains Flood Hawaii's Oahu, Threatening Dam -- WSJ

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