Dam in Hawaii bursts; 1 dead, 7 missing
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-15 09:22

An earthen dam burst on the Hawaiian island of Kauai on Tuesday, sweeping away houses in a torrent of water 150 yards across. One person was killed and as many as seven others were reported missing.

Clouds gather overhead at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Kauai, in 2005. A dam broke in the Hawaiian island of Kauai, killing one person and leaving three people missing, the US Coast Guard said.[AP]

The Kaloko Reservoir dam gave way without warning after days of heavy rain, washing out the island's main coastal highway used by thousands of residents and tourists.

Search crews recovered an unidentified body, Coast Guard spokesman Michael De Nyse said. Helicopters continued the search for victims in the floodwaters and debris that rushed downhill into the Pacific, three miles from the burst dam.

The Kaloko dam, about 40 feet high and 800 feet long, captured runoff from small streams. Authorities estimated that about 1,400 acre-feet of water poured out of the reservoir, which is enough water to cover 1,400 acres a foot deep, or more than 60 million cubic feet.

State officials were assessing the safety of other dams in the Kauai hills, which are dotted with private earthen dams such as the one that broke open.

Ed Teixeira, state vice director of civil defense, said in Honolulu that officials were worried about erosion caused by floodwaters.

"I would characterize this as a growing crisis on Kauai," Teixeira said.

Parts of golf courses and shopping center parking lots were flooded, and major runoff into the normally blue ocean turned the waves muddy all around the popular resort island.

State Rep. Hermina Morita, whose district includes the area where the dam failed, said a constituent who had spent the night away from home returned and was searching for four family members.

There was no warning about the dam's strength or the amount of water in the reservoir behind it, Morita said.

"I think everybody was taken by surprise," she said.

Rod Hiraga, state transportation director, said the force of the water washed out 100 yards of highway, stranding many motorists.

The small airport at Princeville remained open, but tourists with flights from the main airport in Lihue would be unable to get there until the road is repaired.

Tom Pickett, owner of a bakery and pizzeria in the community of Kilauea, said many of his employees could not get to work from the other side of the massive break in the highway.

"Apparently a pretty big piece of highway is gone. Everything washed out of that valley." Pictures taken by residents showed a lot of trees, dirt and mud, he said.

Two schools were being used as emergency shelters.

Roy Matsuda, lead forecaster at the Honolulu office of the National Weather Service, said a storm dumped 5 to 6 inches of rain on Kauai in the last 24 hours.

"Kauai has been fully saturated," he said. He said the storm had left Kauai but was heading east toward the island of Oahu.

The weather service issued a flood warning for the entire state, cautioning residents of the threat of flooding.

Kauai is the westernmost of Hawaii's main islands.