Flooding closes part of Highway 11, cuts Wood Valley Road access
Flooding shut part of Highway 11 in Kaū and left Wood Valley Road’s east end without an alternate route as heavy rain spread across the island.
Flooding forced a closure on Highway 11 in Kaū and cut off the east end of Wood Valley Road, turning a flood advisory into an immediate travel problem for people moving between Pāhala and Nāālehu. Hawaii Police Department said Highway 11 and Kaililiike, also known as Cane Haul, was closed between mile markers 59 and 61 because of flooding, while Hawaii County Civil Defense reported that the Wood Valley road closure left no alternate route available.
The National Weather Service had already extended the flood advisory for North Kohala, Hāmākua, North Hilo, South Hilo, Puna and Kaū until 1:30 p.m., a sign that the rain was not letting up. At 10:17 a.m., radar showed heavy rain over windward and southeast Hawaii Island, with the heaviest bands over Kaū, lower Puna and North Kohala. Rainfall rates were running from 0.5 to 1.5 inches an hour, enough to keep water moving across roads, into poor drainage areas and through streams.
The advisory’s impact area stretched far beyond the closure points. Flood-affected places included Hilo, Hawaiian Paradise Park, Kapaau, Honokaa, Volcano, Glenwood, Mountain View, Hawaiian Acres, Keaau, Papaikou, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Pepeekeo, Honomū, Orchidland Estates, Hakalau, Ninole, Laupāhoehoe, Wood Valley and Pāhoa. For drivers, that meant the problem was not just a single washed-out stretch, but a broad weather system hitting multiple districts at once.
By 1:10 p.m., the situation had worsened enough for the National Weather Service to extend the flood advisory again, this time to 4:30 p.m., and to warn that minor flooding was still expected on roads, in streams and in poor drainage areas. Officials also said Highway 11 near Kawa Flats was closed to small vehicles because of ponding on the roadway. County warnings have repeatedly shown how flooding on Highway 11 and mauka roads can isolate Wood Valley, Pāhala, Nāālehu, Green Sands Subdivision and the Hāao Springs Road/Waiohinu area, and that threat was once again playing out as rain pushed across the southern side of the island.
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