Waimea Valley Park suffered tens of thousands of dollars in damage to equipment as a result of major flooding, its executive director, Richard Pezzulo, estimated Wednesday.
Among the equipment lost was a $30,000 tractor that floodwaters swept about 300 yards from the facility workshop into a stream, Pezzulo said.
Workers also are faced with a major cleanup of facilities, including piles of debris at the front entrance of the park and mud and water that flooded the special events pavilion. Pezzulo said the stream, which usually measures a foot in height, rose 12 feet in an hour and a half on Tuesday night.
“It was pretty intense,” he said. “The stream couldn’t deal with the volume of water.”
Pezzulo said workers at Waimea on Wednesday were using reserve water tanks to clean up the ticket booths and walkways. The park also plans to use heavy equipment to clear piles of wood washed down from the mountainside.
“That’s all got to be removed,” Pezzulo said. The park plans to reopen Sunday.
The state Office of Hawaiian Affairs acquired the 1,800-acre Waimea Valley land in 2006 for its cultural value and preservation.
With the North Shore inundated by heavy rain, city workers on Wednesday cleared mud and debris from Kaunala Street in the Velzyland area.
City spokesman Andrew Pereira said the street, mauka of Kamehameha Highway, is private but the city is responsible for its maintenance.
Kamehameha Highway in front of Turtle Bay was reopened shortly before
10 a.m. after being closed in both directions for about six hours because of flooding. The Department of Emergency Management reported that two sedans stalled in the area, Pereira said.
Around the island, rain forced the closure of Honolulu Zoo and several municipal golf courses Wednesday as communities from the North Shore to Hawaii Kai reported momentary power outages.
The West Loch and Ewa Villages golf courses were closed and play was suspended at the Ted Makalena and Pali courses, Pereira said.
About 2,200 Hawaiian Electric Co. customers in Nanakuli and Waianae lost power just before 9 a.m., HECO spokeswoman Shannon Tangonan said.
Some power lines were reported down in the Campbell Industrial Park area but repair crews were on the scene, Tangonan said.
On Kauai, flooding forced the closure of Hanalei Elementary School for the second day in a row on Wednesday, as well as the closure of Kuhio Highway near the Hanalei Bridge in both directions. By late morning Wednesday, one lane of the highway was reopened and police were alternating traffic on the road.
The state Department of Health issued a brown water advisory for Oahu and Kauai, warning people to stay out of floodwaters and storm runoff because of the risk of overflowing cesspools, sewer manholes, pesticides, animal fecal matter, dead animals, pathogens, chemicals and flood debris.
The National Weather Service said that radar showed more heavy rain sitting just off the Waianae coast and south shore, moving north at 15 to 20 mph.
Areas that could be particularly affected include Maunawili, Kailua, Waikane, Mililani, Waialua, Hawaii Kai, Salt Lake, Kaneohe, Waiahole, Moanalua and Halawa, according to the weather service.