Flash Flood Warning Covers Entire Big Island After Heavy Kona Low Rains

Hawaiʻi Fire Department personnel pulled three residents from a flooded home near Whittington Beach Park on Saturday night and transported them to the Nāʻālehu shelter, one of the most direct human costs of a kona low that placed the entire Big Island under a flash flood warning shortly after 9 p.m. on March 14.

The storm produced heavy rainfall and strong wind gusts across large areas of Hawaiʻi Island, closing multiple sections of Highway 11 in Kaʻū and adding spots on Aliʻi Drive to a growing list of road closures. Heavy rainfall and strong winds also caused road closures and property damage in Puna, Kona and Kohala.

At the same moment roads were shutting down, roughly 22% of Hawaiian Electric's Big Island customer base had lost power. About 20,400 customers remained without electricity as of Hawaiian Electric's 9 p.m. update, all of them in areas being battered by strong winds, thunderstorms and heavy rain. Hawaiian Electric urged customers across Oahu, Maui County and Hawaiʻi Island to "continue to plan for possible extended outages, potentially overnight, as the powerful storm system is expected to make its way across the island chain throughout the weekend."

Beyond the flash flood warnings for Kona, Kaʻū and Puna, a flood watch and a high wind warning remained in place for all of Hawaiʻi Island. At the summits, conditions turned more severe: a Winter Storm Warning covered Maunakea and Mauna Loa.

The County of Hawaiʻi announced that non-emergency facilities and operations would remain closed Sunday due to ongoing storm impacts. A public safety message published by Big Island Video News called the threat ongoing: "The risk of flash flooding and strong, damaging winds, remain through Sunday, and we urge residents to avoid all non-essential travel for the rest of the weekend."

The storm's reach extended well beyond Hawaiʻi Island. Radar Saturday morning showed heavy rain moving over Maui from the southwest at 1 to 2 inches per hour, and a separate advisory noted a small area of heavy rain moving over Oahu at 0.5 to 1 inch per hour, with additional widespread heavy rain expected within hours.

Flooded roadways carry particular danger on the Big Island, where low-water crossings and rural roads can be deceptive at night. Emergency managers consistently warn that conditions on flooded roads can turn life-threatening with little warning, a caution made concrete Saturday by the rescue near Whittington Beach Park.