Coastal flooding hit parts of Oahu on Sunday, setting a new record for sea levels in Honolulu, the National Weather Service said.
At about 3:30 p.m. Sunday, seawater flooded several roads in Mapunapuna, making passage possible only for the most intrepid drivers.
Alex Wilson, a receptionist at Tails of Hawaii, a dog day care center on Ahua Street, said the flooding had been excessive the past week. On Sunday the street was underwater within a half-hour of the tide starting to roll in.
Workers had to put on boots and carry dogs out to their owners on the other side of the water, Wilson said. Another owner was seen rolling up her pant legs and wading into calf-deep water to get to the day care. Wilson said the building is elevated from the roadway, so the water stopped at the driveway.
Wilson said roads in the area began flooding excessively only this year after roughly five years of working at the dog day care.
The king tides, or higher-than-normal tides, were caused by a combination of high tides and sea levels raised by an eddy moving through the area, the Weather Service said. Coastal flooding is possible through Wednesday.
Water levels are running about a foot higher than predictions on tide charts, with peak levels occurring during the afternoons and evenings, the Weather Service said.
On Sunday the water level was 3.32 inches at the Honolulu station, which was a record, a Weather Service forecaster said.
Video showed a parking lot at Keehi Small Boat Harbor also flooded by the tide.
In July there was a king tide event caused by the summer’s largest tides combined with a sizable swell.
In April and May bulging ocean eddies and a buildup of water from El Nino led to more king tides.
According to a tide chart online, the peak of this tidal event occurred Saturday
afternoon.
One employee at a tour company on Ahua Street said he has to check tide charts weekly to make sure he doesn’t park in his stall if the tide will be high.
Kevin Nguyen, of A-1 Auto A/C Specialist &General Auto Repair, said he drove in to the shop without problems Sunday afternoon but had to find another way to leave after seeing the road flooded.
“This is pretty bad,” he said.
Muggy conditions will be felt around the islands through Tuesday as moisture from the east overruns the islands, the Weather Service said.
Far to the east of Hawaii, Hurricane Kenneth intensified to a Category 3 hurricane Sunday but was expected to weaken to a post-tropical cyclone and turn toward the north-northwest.
