Frustrated Hauula homeowners who are still recovering from a costly summer storm are blaming state and city officials and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for exacerbating flooding they say is increasing in severity and frequency.

Several residents who suffered tens of thousands of dollars in damage that’s still not repaired from the July 20 flood say they do not even live in a flood zone and never thought to buy flood insurance.

The river of water that poured into the room that Henry Holthaus rents out on Halai Street was so deep after the July 20 storm that the rental apartment’s refrigerator was floating and banging against the kitchen wall, Holthaus said.

"It’s happening more often, even when there’s less rain," Holthaus said. "It has continued to get worse and worse."

Following a morning rain shower Friday, Holthaus said he gets nervous whenever the skies open up.

"I definitely pay attention now," he said.

Holly Smith’s 1,100-square-foot, two-story house on Pokiwai Place suffered an estimated $150,000 in damage during the July 20 storm and her ground-level floors are still torn up, with new, exposed drywall everywhere.

Smith’s house butts up against the Kapaka Farmowned by the LDS church that she claims has been dumping tons of soil, boulders and debris into nearby streams, diverting water into neighboring homes.

Smith also blames the city for allowing the work.

"I checked and they don’t have permits to do any grading work," Smith said. "There’s no control over what’s going on."

But Smith also faults the state Department of Land and Natural Resources for failing to keep nearby streams clear of debris after the state shut down Sacred Falls State Park in 1999, when six people were killed in a Mother’s Day rockslide.

Smith already has documented damage to 15 neighbors’ homes that suffered flood damage in July. But she estimates the actual number of damaged homes to be at least twice as high and repairs could easily top $1 million.

Smith also is helping to organize a community meeting Tuesday night at the Hauula Civic Center and has invited church, state and city officials to answer questions about the perception that they are responsible for making the flooding worse — and more expensive for homeowners.

But Smith has a fundamental theory:

"It’s pure and simple negligence," she said.

DLNR officials did not address Smith’s allegations directly, but referred to upcoming work on nearby Kaluanui Stream.

The project, DLNR officials said in a statement, is designed "to reduce the flooding impacts to homes near Pokiwai Place. However, the ongoing maintenance to clear sand and the bypass pipe under Kamehameha Highway is also a critical component that needs to be continued on a regular basis to also minimize the risk of flooding to homes located near Pokiwai Place. DLNR wants to make it clear that the Kaluanui Stream Mitigation project will not solve everyone’s flooding issues in the Hauula area but it will address a specific issue that was brought to DLNR’s attention about five years ago."

Finau Hafoka, president of the Laie Hawaii North Stake of the LDS church, which manages the Kapaka farm, said in an email that city officials inspected the farm last week in response to an anonymous complaint and found "no illegal or unlawful grading activity at the farm."

The city Department of Planning and Permitting received complaints in September alleging illegal grading at the farm that led homes to be flooded, said Art Challacombe, the department’s deputy director.

It took more than a month for an inspector to gain entry, but that happened Tuesday, Challacombe said.

The inspector "found no evidence of recent grading, nor did he see any evidence of flooding caused by the rains from Hurricane Ana," he said. "The inspector found only crops (banana, taro and papaya). There was no apparent violation of the grading ordinance and the investigation was closed."

But Smith’s daughter, Catherine Enos, insists that she has seen heavy-equipment operators — including teenage boys — moving soil, foliage, boulders and other debris from behind her mother’s house and into a neighboring stream.

The work directly behind Smith’s house abruptly ended about four months ago as soon as newly planted taro plants took root, Enos said.

Enos and her husband, Billy, alleged that heavy-equipment grading on the farm changed the normal stream flow and made the July 20 flood worse.

Billy Enos stood on Pokiwai Place where he said the floodwaters reached above his belt line July 20.

"I’m 6 feet tall and it was above my waist," Enos said. "I have never seen this road underwater that deep. I even seen one ‘frigerator floating away."

Kenny Wright’s three-bedroom, two-bath house on Pokiwai Place has flooded five times over the last few years.

But the July 20 flood "was by far the worse," Wright said. "And we don’t even live in a flood zone."

He woke around 2 a.m. July 20 to find his one-story house full of raw sewage and floodwater 5 inches deep.

"I stepped out of bed and was shin deep in it," Wright said. "I said, ‘Uh, oh. If this is a storm, what’s the end of the world going to look like?’"

With no flood insurance, Wright and his 19-year-old son, T.J., pulled up the contaminated carpet themselves and tore out the soggy drywall.

Wright estimates that when he and his son eventually finish, the repairs will cost at least $20,000.

Wright works for the LDS church as an electrician at Brigham Young University-Hawaii and has heard his neighbors blame the church-owned farm in his neighborhood for exacerbating the flood — along with the blame they’re pointing at city and state officials.

But Wright insisted he has no idea why the flooding at his own home seems to be getting worse.

"l don’t know who to blame," Wright said. "I just know you can’t mess with Mother Nature."