Hail. Floods. Tornado. Big Mess!

HawaiiNewsNow Video » Twister in Enchanted Lake area

A tornado swept through parts of Kailua and Lanikai on Friday, capping a week of wild, rare weather that included record-size hail, damaging lightning strikes and torrential rain that closed roads and flooded homes.

"It took the roof off in about five seconds," said Enchanted Lake resident Harold Sylvester, whose home on Kahili Street lost its 60-by-20-foot lanai roof in the twister. "I thought the trees were going to come down. Then I heard a PAHW! … After it hit, it was quiet."

The storms, which began March 3, hit Kauai and Oahu the hardest Friday and also caused damage in Maui County.

Windward Oahu residents were awakened Friday by a near-constant string of lightning and thunder, heavy rain and hail as big as baseballs, particularly in the Aikahi area.

Then the tornado came ashore at about 7:15 a.m., tearing up roofs and uprooting trees as it carved a mile-and-a-half path through the Lanikai and Enchanted Lake neighborhoods.

The National Weather Service said the tornado started as a waterspout offshore and became a tornado upon reaching land. It had speeds of 60 to 70 mph, had an average width of 20 yards and lasted about 15 minutes.

Residents say they first heard a roar like a train coming, then a violent wind for 45 seconds to a few minutes, and when they looked outside debris was everywhere.

Manny Marin, 91, of Enchanted Lake had set his old clothes dryer out on the curb the day before for pickup. The tornado pushed it 40 feet down the street.

The house that appeared to be the most extensively damaged was a beachside vacation rental on Mokulua Drive in Lanikai. The lanai roof collapsed, the main roof was damaged and windows and part of a wall were blown out, tenant Thanit Bernier of New York said.

Bernier said she was asleep with her husband and 3-month-old daughter when "we heard a loud noise and a strong wind. We felt like the windows were going to break. Our baby was sleeping in the middle of us, and we covered her up."

It was over in "like three seconds," she said. "When we opened the door, we heard my mother (in another room) screaming. The windows were shattered. We noticed the living room roof had blown. The other part had totally collapsed. We were afraid we wouldn’t be able to leave the house because the entrances were blocked."

There was no immediate tally of how many homes were damaged.

Honolulu firefighters responded to 24 weather-related calls between 5:30 and 9 a.m. Friday, all on the Windward side, fire Capt. Terry Seelig said. Three of them were for damaged roofs in Enchanted Lake.

The most severe flooding occurred at about 8 a.m. on Aina Moi Place, where a torrent of water swept through the area, affecting about 15 homes before washing out to Kaneohe Bay, Seelig said.

"Some of them had a foot or two of water that moved through them, but it rapidly dissipated when the rains abated," he said.

Here are highlights from other areas:

NORTH SHORE

About 10 residents from Otake Camp in Waialua used a shelter Friday at Waialua Intermediate and High School because Lake Wilson was running high, said Maria Lutz, director of disaster services for the Red Cross. The shelter was closed at 3 p.m.

Flooding was also reported in Haleiwa town at Paalaa Road and Kamehameha Highway.

KANEOHE-KUALOA

Kamehameha Highway was closed for a few hours Friday morning in several places, including in Punaluu and at Kualoa Regional Park, because of flooding and landslides, Oahu Emergency Management spokes­man John Cummings said.

The city reported that 6,110 gallons of sewage overflowed into Kawa Stream from a manhole at the Kaneohe Wastewater Pre-Treatment Facility at 6:25 a.m. At 7:45 a.m. a manhole overflow at 44-217 Mikiola Drive sent 2,250 gallons of untreated sewage into a canal that leads to Kaneohe Bay.

KAUAI

Lihue resident Haily McKee said hail came down in Kapaa at about 2:30 a.m. Friday. McKee, a medical receptionist at the Kauai Community Health Center in Kapaa, also said Kuhio Highway is pockmarked with potholes worsened by the rain.

The American Red Cross opened a shelter at the Kapaa Middle School cafeteria for people who cannot stay in their homes due to flooding.

Roads closed because of flooding included Kuhio Highway near the Hanalei Bridge and near the 22.5-mile marker. Kapahi Bridge at the Kawaihau and Kahuna road junction will be closed for repairs until at least the middle of next week, the county said.

MAUI

County Civil Defense officials reported Hana Highway was closed in at least three places early Friday. A flash flood sent water over the road three miles west of Hana; a landslide was reported 12 miles west of Hana; and a tree was down over the road about nine miles west of Hana.

Maui Electric Co. workers restored power to about 400 customers in and around Hana at about 9 a.m. Friday. The power went out at about 1:20 a.m.

ADVISORIES

» Hawaii State Civil Defense has activated a toll-free number for damage reports from residents whose property, home or business suffered damage from the ongoing severe weather. Call 855-211-7456, ext. 654. Reporting damage will not guarantee financial aid, but it will help officials determine whether the state qualifies for federal disaster assistance.

» The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said the following state parks will be closed until further notice because of weather-related conditions: Diamond Head State Monument (lightning hazard), Na Pali Coast State Wilderness Park, Polipoli Spring State Park and Waianapanapa State Park.

Star-Advertiser reporters Gregg K. Kakesako, June Watanabe and Rosemarie Bernardo contributed to this report.