Kona Low Flash Floods Wash Large Catamaran Ashore at Kihei

All of South Kihei Road closed under heavy flooding on March 13 — and somewhere in that chaos, a large catamaran ended up on the beach. The first Kona low storm impacted the state from March 13 to 16, 2026, and photographic evidence credited to Maui County shows a vessel grounded on a Kihei beach during heavy rain on Friday, March 13. Media coverage identifies the boat as a large catamaran, driven ashore by flash flooding and wind.

Maui received the highest rainfall totals in the state from the first Kona low, and wind speeds were second highest in the state, according to National Weather Service data. Meteorologists recorded repeated bands of heavy rain and thunderstorms, with 5 to 10 inches over much of the state and 15 to 25 inches in parts of Maui and the Big Island, with locally higher totals above 30 inches. The storm also produced damaging wind gusts in the 60 to 75 mph range, with local gusts above 100 mph on the Big Island. For a catamaran on a Kihei mooring or at anchor in those conditions, the outcome was predictable.

South Kihei Road collapsed, a massive sinkhole opened in front of Kamaole Beach Park II swallowing a pedestrian crossing sign, exposing pipes, and toppling a utility pole, while broken sewer and water lines left approximately 200 residences without service. Kihei residents described scenes of chaos, with Daniel Baralt, a 20-year South Maui resident, telling reporters: "There was so much force that it just took the cars and just played with them like toys." He watched water move a 40-foot storage container "like a little toy boat."

The grounded catamaran was only one consequence among many. Flooding and wind severely damaged portions of South Maui, ʻĪao, Upper Kula, East Maui, and Lahaina during the first storm. Before those communities could begin recovering, a second system was already forming west of the islands.

Between March 19 and 22, 2026, a second, weaker storm struck ground already saturated by the previous week's severe rainfall. The National Weather Service issued a Flood Watch from 18:00 local time on March 19 through 18:00 local time on March 22 for Maui County, Oʻahu, and Hawaiʻi Island, with the heaviest precipitation forecast from Friday night, March 20, through Saturday, March 21. With the soil already waterlogged from the first storm, parts of Maui recorded more than 46 inches of rain during the March 10–16 storm alone, and Honolulu broke a daily rainfall record for March 13 that had stood since 1951.

The intense precipitation triggered a critical infrastructure emergency on March 20, when the roughly 120-year-old Wahiawā Dam on Oʻahu was closely monitored amid rising water levels, prompting the mandatory evacuation of about 5,500 residents in Haleʻiwa and Waialua. The state suffered an estimated $1 billion in damages, according to Gov. Josh Green.

Kahului and Maui had their wettest month on record. The grounded catamaran at Kihei, photographed by Maui County on one of the worst days of the storm, became an image that encapsulated what a record-breaking Kona low does to anything left exposed on a South Maui shoreline.