HONOLULU (AP) — From the empty shores of Oahu’s Waikiki Beach to the snowy summit of the Big Island’s highest peak, an unusually strong winter storm is clobbering the Hawaiian Islands and raising the threat of dangerous flash floods, landslides and crashing tree limbs.
The strong storm over the nation’s only island state left eloping couples without weddings and tourists stuck indoors. It also threatened the state’s infrastructure with a deluge of rain and wind.
Five boys between the ages of 9 and 10 were rescued from a raging creek by Honolulu Fire Department workers, a statement from the agency said.
Weather officials warned that slow-moving thunderstorms, high winds and heavy rains could persist through Wednesday and Gov. David Ige issued a state of emergency for all of the state’s islands Monday night.
The National Weather Service said the storm brings the threat of “catastrophic flooding” in the coming days as a low pressure system slowly moves from east to west and lingered on the edge of the archipelago. The storm knocked out power in communities across Hawaii and the worst of the rain was just arriving in the state’s most populous island of Oahu Monday evening.
“Now is the time to make sure you have an emergency plan in place and supplies ready should you need to move away from rising water,” Ige said in a statement.
On Oahu, where four shelters had been opened, most of the beaches in Waikiki were empty Monday as only a few people walked with umbrellas during passing heavy showers. Roadways were flooding and cars crept through downtown as water gushed out of manhole covers.
On Maui, power outages have been reported, with more than a foot of rain falling in some areas.
The relentless rain forced three couples from the U.S. mainland to postpone their Maui elopements, said Nicole Bonanno, owner of Bella Bloom Floral.
The weather also led to delayed flower deliveries, a lei company with no power and employees braving flooded roads littered with debris, Bonanno said.
“The roads, everything are a mess,” she said. “There are lots of trees down.”
