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Storm lays bare the costs of building along the coast

Flooding swamped low-lying South Maui, undermined roads, exposed pipes

A pipe lies exposed not far from the ocean along South Kihei Road on Tuesday in the wake of a storm that brought heavy rains and flooding, undermined roads and damaged water lines in some areas. County officials said the storm was a stark reminder of the perils of building roads and housing along low-lying coastal areas that are subject to severe weather and climate change. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

Mudslides and flooding combined with downed utility poles and collapsed roads are the reality of many coastal communities after the Kona low storm swept through Maui this weekend.

And this reality is “going to be a trend” unless changes are made to how infrastructure is built and maintained amidst a climate crisis, said Maui County Council Member Kelly King, who chairs the council’s Climate Action, Resiliency and Environment Committee and represents South Maui, which was hit hard by the storm.

“We need to start taking it more seriously. . . . We have to realize that this is not a one-time thing,” King said Wednesday afternoon via phone. “We have to be smarter about what we’ve done wrong and how we need to fix it, but also not repeating those problems by continuing to build too close to the ocean or build too high or build in a way that is not sustainable.”

Upcountry, East Maui and South Maui were the communities impacted the most, enduring major rainfall, flooding and extended power and water outages in some cases. Damage assessments are being conducted to estimate costs for repairs needed to apply for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, county spokesperson Brian Perry said.

South Kihei Road reopened to local traffic only from North Kihei Road to Kaonoulu Street after parts of the road were “undermined” during the heavy rains and left some pipes exposed. Debris on the road shoulder is making it “unsafe to return normal traffic flow to that section of roadway,” Perry said.

South Kihei Road is undermined and its shoulder is washed away near Kaonoulu Street and Kalepolepo Beach Park Monday morning.

“The county has been clearing and repairing roads in other areas impacted by flooding,” he added. “Roadways that are most vulnerable to flooding are those near waterways or in low-lying areas.”

With already increasing traffic jams on North Kihei Road, Piilani Highway and Maui Veterans Highway, a few officials on Wednesday said that structural repairs islandwide to essential roads, downed electrical poles, homes and exposed waterlines will be ongoing for a while following the storm.

Beaches and coral reefs impacted by major sediment runoff will also see a long recovery process.

Moving forward, King suggested that “we need to start moving away from the shoreline,” a process known as managed retreat, in order to protect homes and other infrastructure.

Also, she noted that some roads that were recently repaired “should have been raised up” during construction in anticipation of flooding.

A north Kihei beach is choked with a thick covering of debris Tuesday.

“So we have to get smarter about how we do road repairs, how and where, and start looking at (prefabricated) bridges,” King said. “So we have to look at ways to save money and to make decisions on what we’re protecting against.”

The county is taking some strides toward combating climate change and future natural disasters by reducing its carbon footprint, such as through a bill passed by the council in November that would require new one- or two-family residential buildings over 5,000 square feet to be zero net energy homes.

Tara Owens, coastal processes and hazards specialist of University of Hawaii’s Sea Grant College Program, told The Maui News earlier this year that accommodation and ecosystem-based adaptation are other necessary steps.

Accommodation focuses on improving current developments, such as elevating a building, which can work in areas that are subject to flooding, while ecosystem-based adaptation involves preserving and restoring natural systems, like wetlands, reefs, beaches and sand dunes, that would buffer any impacts.

Mayor Michael Victorino said during the county’s news conference on Friday that water was knee-high in the first floor of a South Maui apartment building that he went to visit in the wake of the storm. He expressed concerns about the area’s vulnerability, pointing to the erosion along South Kihei Road and the damage to a bridge near Kulanihakoi Street. The county may have to consider increasing the culvert size there, Victorino said.

“We’re concerned what will happen with South Kihei not only with high waves now, but any other types of flooding that may occur in this area,” he added.

As the remnants of the storm passed, residents have been seen cleaning flooded garages, pools, cars and sidewalks while county and state workers are fixing structural damages.

“We know that Kula, Kihei and East Maui were greatly impacted by the recent weather system, and other areas were affected too,” Victorino in a news release Tuesday. “Reporting damages online can help Hawaii to get needed FEMA funding to assist individuals as well as public assistance for infrastructure damage.”

State Department of Transportation spokesperson Shelly Kunishige said Wednesday that crews were still working to remove fallen trees from power lines and replace downed poles on Kekaulike Avenue between Mile Marker 8 and Alae Road.

“We anticipate debris removal at this site will be completed by the end of next week,” Kunishige said.

A portion of the shoulder and guardrail were also washed away. The reconstruction will take between six to nine months, she added. Kekaulike Avenue near Maui Wedding Flowers will be restricted to a single lane until the repairs are completed.

The estimated cost for the repairs to Kekaulike Avenue is $1.75 million.

Other roads that DOT crews responded to were North Kihei Road, Honoapiilani Highway at the pali, Hana Highway in Central Maui, Kula Highway and Piilani Highway, she said.

Workers are assessing bridges on Kula Highway and Kekaulike Avenue that may need scour repairs while bridges on Piilani Highway may need silt removal.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com. Managing Editor Colleen Uechi contributed to this report.

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