RAINS SWAMP HAWAII

[tropicana]

RECORD RAINS AT HILO HI 3.03inches
Friday Feb 4th 2005

Heavy rains on Oahu and the Big Island Friday closed roads and schools, slowed traffic and had forecasters worried about flooding but couldn't dampen spirits at the Punahou Carnival.

Forecasters say the rain that showed up Tuesday will likely stick around through the weekend, with a few downpours expected for Oahu on the weekend.
Three schools on the Big Island -- Kau High School, Pahala Elementary and Naalehu School -- were closed Friday because roads in the areas were impassable.

At about 2:30 a.m., officials closed a 14-mile stretch of Highway 11 at the 58-mile marker because water over the road had reached more than a foot deep. The highway was reopened eight hours later.

The Hamakua Belt Highway was also closed at about 6:55 a.m. when a tree fell across the roadway near Kolekole Bridge, said Hawaii County Civil Defense acting Administrator Lanny Nakano. The road was reopened at about 10:30 a.m.

On Oahu about three dozen boulders -- about the size of wheelbarrows -- were dislodged by rains Friday morning and fell onto Farrington Highway between Makua Cave and Yokohama Bay, closing the road for several hours.

Ballard said officials are still concerned about weekend rains causing "nuisance flooding" in parts of Oahu and the Big Island. Because the ground is so wet, she said, "it may not be a heavy shower that would trigger the need for a flood advisory."

The Big Island saw the heaviest rains early Friday, with Mountain View getting more than 12 inches in the 24 hours ending at 5:45 p.m. In the same time period, Pali saw more than 10 inches, and Kapalapala Ranch got more than 6 inches of rain.

Snow accumulating to near 4inches was falling at the summits over 12,000 feet, where Winter Weather Advisories were in effect through Saturday.