Officials remind hikers to be mindful of their surroundings in the wake of two men who sustained injuries Thursday at Lulumahu Falls in Nuuanu.
“A lot of natural hazards happen in forest reserves, and we want people just to be mindful of their surroundings,” said David Smith, administrator of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources’ Division of Forestry and Wildlife, during a virtual news conference held Friday.
Honolulu firefighters responded to a call of two male hikers who sustained injuries at the base of the waterfall at Lulumahu Falls at about 1:35 p.m. Thursday after a rock or rocks fell from the mountainside.
One of the hikers, 25, sustained multiple injuries and was taken in critical condition to a hospital. The other hiker, 27, sustained a foot injury and was taken in serious condition to a hospital.
A day earlier the National Weather Service issued a flood advisory for areas in Windward Oahu and East Oahu due to heavy rainfall over the southern end of the Koolau Mountains.
Hikers need a permit from the Department of Land and Natural Resources to enter Lulumahu Falls, which is a restricted watershed area.
It’s unclear whether the two hikers had a permit.
Regardless, Smith said, “It’s not why they got hurt whether they had a permit or not. The reason they got hurt is just kind of a fluke and being in a relatively dangerous area.”
“Some people, just (through) no fault of their own, a rock just randomly falls on you or a tree falls, and it hits a person on a well-established trail. Those types of things happen, and so we just need people to be mindful that in these natural areas there’s a lot of natural hazards,” Smith said.
The size of the rock or rocks that fell at Lulumahu Falls on Thursday was not immediately available. Smith noted it doesn’t take a large rock to cause damage when it falls from a cliff’s edge or mountainside. When planning a hike, residents and visitors alike need to be aware of the risks and their ability level.
“This isn’t just walking down the sidewalk in town. You go into the backcountry, you’re assuming a level of risk,” Smith said. “A lot of these areas are un-maintained, unimproved areas.”
