Moana Kea Klausmeyer-Among remembers a flood in the Makaha Stream in 2008 that destroyed her family’s fence and contributed to a loss of 15 feet of property.
"The water was 3 feet high inside our yard," she recalled.
"It was just raging, just raging."
As residents plan to attend a public meeting Tuesday to hear about an ongoing study of Makaha Valley flooding, they’re also mindful that government officials have been unable to significantly lessen flooding from major storms.
The meeting will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Waianae District Park’s multipurpose room at 85-601 Farrington Highway.
State Rep. Jo Jordan (D, Waianae-Makaha-Makua), who introduced the appropriation to fund the study, said the consultant is still gathering information and is inviting the public to add their recollection of floods to the report.
"There’s no report yet," she said.
Jordan said the 20-month-long study is in its 11th month and that after Tuesday’s meeting, the consultant will write a draft report that will include engineering information as well as a history of flooding in the valley.
Residents said a number of developments lacked adequate drainage and diversions intended to protect properties led to damaging other land.
Jordan said her goal is to lessen flooding by searching for short-term and long-term solutions.
"We’re not looking at who’s the bad guy," she said. "I know an incident is going to come, and we have to be prepared for it."
Jordan said in 2008, after several days of rain, the stream water rose 4 feet high over Farrington Highway, closed Kili Drive and took out one of the holes at a golf course.
Klausmeyer-Among said she was grateful that Jordan secured funding for the study but is skeptical about solutions built in the past, including dikes diverting floodwaters elsewhere.
"They just making more problems," she said.
