Firefighter swept into storm drain as Maui pummeled by rain

A Maui firefighter was critically injured after being swept into a storm drain and carried 800 yards to a shoreline outlet as heavy rain and flooding around the island Friday prompted road, beach and park closures.

A Maui Fire Department crew was responding to calls about flooded residences early Friday afternoon when the unidentified firefighter was caught in a 4-foot-wide storm drain that empties into the ocean, according to a county news release.

Firefighters and other emergency personnel were able to retrieve the unresponsive firefighter from the shoreline, the release said, and he was transported in critical condition to Maui Memorial Medical Center. No further details were provided but MFD will investigate the incident, the release said.

The National Weather Serv­ice detected heavy rain Friday morning on Maui and issued a flood advisory for the island but by early afternoon upgraded it to a flash-flood warning. During its heaviest period, rain fell at 1 to 3 inches per hour along the windward slopes from Haiku to Hana in East Maui and on the slopes of Hale­akala, which funneled storm runoff down to the heavily populated coastal region in South Maui, one of the island’s main tourism districts.

Social media posts showed flooding and rushing torrents of runoff inundating storm drains, roads and properties and causing landslides. Vehicles were seen navigating through shallow pools of water on roads and around fast-flowing streams of water and debris.

Conditions in South Maui were still dry just before noon when part-time Maui resident Jeri Ireland was driving back to Kihei with her pregnant daughter, Jocelyn Gray, and 3-year-old granddaughter, Rowan, after a morning whale-watch cruise from Maalaea Harbor.

But as they crossed the gulch just north of the Menehune Shores condo on South Kihei Road, “all of a sudden I felt water hitting the side of the car, and that’s when I told Jocelyn to get the baby out of the car seat in case we had to make a quick exit.”

Ireland, who splits her time between Maui and Novato, Calif., said she immediately turned into the nearest parking lot at the Kihei Bay Surf condo on the mauka side of the road to wait out the flooding, but when she opened her car door, she saw that water had begun rushing into the parking lot and was already 5 inches deep.

“I told Jocelyn, ‘We gotta get out of the car now,’” she said.

They found refuge at one of the Kihei Bay Surf condos and watched as a vehicle that tried to cross the floodwaters “floated” into the Menehune Shores parking lot across the street. Ireland said they were finally able to leave when the road reopened around 2:30 p.m.

“I had visions of being swept out into the ocean. It just went from nothing to flooding in no time at all,” she said.

The flooding prompted the county to close all sports fields at county park facilities along with Baldwin Beach Park and the Central Maui Landfill. The county also reported that heavy rain caused a break in a 2-inch waterline running through a drain culvert on Kula Highway and Lower Kula Road, cutting off serv­ice to four homes.

Haleakala National Park’s Summit District was partially closed Friday due to severe weather.

The heavy rain continued into Friday night, and wet conditions are expected to continue today, with possible thunderstorms, across the windward areas of Maui County, according to the National Weather Service. The moist conditions are expected to persist through the weekend and into Monday.

The forecast also calls for an increased chance of rain on Hawaii island from tonight to Sunday, likely bringing snow to the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency urged caution on all islands due to potential flooding, landslides and gusty wind.

“This weather pattern presents several different hazards at different places within the state, and we’re urging our residents and visitors to be careful and prepared,” said HI-EMA Administrator Luke Meyers in a statement. “Sign up for your local county alerts to be sure you receive the most up-to-date and reliable information.”

A flood watch for Oahu was to start today, HI-EMA said, and wind could reach up to 45 mph on the island by Monday. Kauai also might experience high winds and heavy rain.

The Maui Emergency Management Agency activated its Emergency Operation Center and asked residents to report structural property damage online.