State Rep. Jo Jordan plans to return to an oft-flooded section of Puhawai Road in Waianae this morning with more than 60 volunteers to cut back branches and clear debris from an area that will undergo millions of dollars of flood-prevention work over the next several years.

On Dec. 10 Jordan (D, Waianae-Makua) and 120 volunteers and state and city workers removed more than 7.5 tons of debris, garbage and metal from the area where dozens of homes were flooded in 2008 and 2010.

The volunteer work is one of several projects that will continue over the next several years, Jordan said Sunday, including plans to replace three drainage tubes beneath Puhawai Road with much larger culverts that also will increase the height of the road where it once sat underneath 10 feet of water in 2010.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie has released $2 million for the Puhawai Road project, which Jordan hopes will begin in 2012.

"Our community has worked very hard to keep our streams clear and to do as much as possible to avoid flooding and disaster, but we really need improvements to our drainage structures," she said. "We greatly appreciate the Legislature’s approval and the governor’s release of funds for the health and safety of our residents."

The foundation to Monique De Ocampo’s three-bedroom home along Puuhulu Road became unsettled from the 2008 and 2010 floods. And a piece of De Ocampo’s land fell into the normally dry stream bed below her in 2008.

Then during the 2010 rain, De Ocampo lost an even bigger piece of property to the stream that raged below.

Now instead of being 20 feet away from a 30-foot drop into the stream bed, De Ocampo’s listing home sits just 10 feet away.

"This really concerns me," De Ocampo said. "In 2010 one of my dogs fell in because the whole fence came down."

The Lualualei Flats area is prone to flooding because of deteriorating stream banks, poor drainage, illegal dumping and bad stream maintenance by various landowners, among other factors, Jordan said.

Even tree owners need to be aware that falling branches can clog up streams, culverts and other drainage, Jordan said.

"You can’t just point a finger at one thing," she said.

While only a couple dozen homes were built near stream beds in the area, Jordan said, dozens of other homes up to two blocks away have been flooded from rising waters.

At least 25 homes were flooded during the winter storms of 2008, "and in several of the homes, all of their contents were destroyed," Jordan said. "The city can clean underneath its bridges and easements and clean out its drainage pipes, but if all of the various property owners don’t maintain their properties they way they need to be maintained, then we’re not even putting a Band-Aid over the situation."

Following the 2010 flooding, U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Ino­uye gathered representatives from various state and city agencies to come up with long-term plans to deal with flooding in the area, Jordan said.

One of the first projects is the $2 million plan to rebuild the large dip in the road along Puhawai Road and replace the drainage with much larger culverts, Jordan said.

"The Puhawai Road money is not going to fix all of the problems in the area," Jordan said, "but it’s a good start."