Search for man swept to sea continues as isles mop up

A search will continue this morning for a hiker swept into the ocean while crossing a stream on Kauai, an apparent casualty of the recent foul weather.

Witnesses saw the man trying to cross near the mouth of Hanakapiai Stream when he was overcome by waves. One of the witnesses ran back to Kee Beach and alerted a lifeguard, who called 911 at 2:55 p.m.

The Kauai Fire Department’s Air 1 helicopter and a Civil Air Patrol pilot conducted numerous passes from Kee to Milolii, while fire crews in an inflatable boat searched the coastline, Kauai County said in a news release. The search, hampered by bad weather, was called off at sunset.

The county said the man’s identity is unknown but that he is of Asian ancestry and in his 40s.

A high-surf advisory remains in effect through 6 a.m. Monday for the east shores of Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Maui and Hawaii island, with waves of up to 10 feet expected. A winter weather advisory is in effect through this morning for the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

On Oahu on Saturday, residents in a Kaneohe neighborhood aired out rugs and cleaned up debris in their yards as emergency officials and volunteers assessed the destruction from Friday’s storm.

The American Red Cross Hawaii chapter reported last night that 130 houses were damaged in three counties.

On Kauai, 63 homes sustained damage in the storm, two with major damage. Maui County had six houses damaged, one with major damage, and Oahu had 61 houses damaged, two with major damage, the agency said.

In addition to the damage surveys, Red Cross volunteers spread out Saturday on Oahu, Kauai and Maui to distribute cleanup kits and check if anyone had emergency needs, said Maria Lutz, director of disaster services for the American Red Cross in Hawaii.

State Civil Defense also tallied damage to see if the state qualifies for federal aid, said Vic Gustafson, interim vice director at Hawaii State Civil Defense.

By Saturday afternoon, Civil Defense received 38 calls reporting damage from Oahu, 19 from Kauai, five from Maui and one from Hawaii island, Gustafson said. An estimate of the damage might be available in a few days, but most of the damage on Oahu appears to be more nuisance-type and not severe, he said.

A few homes, however, reported 3 to 4 feet of indoor flooding.

At the top of Aina Moi Place, several friends helped Ken Panosh clear mud from his yard after several inches of water went into his four-bedroom home. He ran three or four industrial-sized dehumidifiers inside to dry out the baseboards and already pulled up soaked carpeting.

He said the water came from across Kaneohe Bay Drive and ran down Aina Moi Place instead of going into a drainage canal behind his house. When he tried to help a neighbor across the street, a sheet of water blocked him as it ran downhill.

"It was too fast, too strong, and it scared me," he said. "It was significant."

About 15 homes on Aina Moi were affected by the torrent of water about 8 a.m. Friday as it entered the cul-de-sac and drained shortly afterward into Kaneohe Bay.

The flooding was part of a storm that brought heavy rain to most islands in the same week another storm had already soaked Oahu and Kauai. The National Weather Service said just short of 46 inches of rain fell on Hanalei, Kauai, in the week ending at 11 a.m. Friday.

Rainfall at Lihue Airport set a record Friday of 3.63 inches, beating the old record for March 9 of 3.46 inches set in 1950.

Kahului Airport on Maui also set a record on Thursday of 1.14 inches, beating the old record of 0.99 inches in 1991.

Nearly 40 inches fell over the seven days at the Oahu Forest National Wildlife Refuge and more than 36 inches at Moanalua.

In Kaneohe, Roger Sheekey, the resident manager at Yacht Club Knolls, a townhouse complex above Aina Moi Place, said the water that flooded the homes below came from a culvert that runs through his complex. He said the culvert overflowed because boulders and silt from state property above had clogged a 4-foot- deep portion of the culvert on the complex property in a day. The flooded culvert also backed up lanai drainage pipes, sending water back into about a dozen units.

He said he’s been working with the state Department of Transportation for years to get them to maintain the land above so less soil enters the culvert.

Dan Meisenzahl, spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said the department was investigating.

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Star-Advertiser reporter Michael Tsai contributed to this report.