Elderly Couple Among Maui Residents To Lose Their Home in Historic Hawaii Storm 3 Years After Deadly Fires

Hawaii was deluged with rain this weekend, with homeowners on the Big Island and Maui being slammed with record rainfall over a five-day period. 

Among them, Carrie Bashaw and her husband Tom, who watched in horror as their peaceful home on Upcountry Maui was swept away with the unforeseen swell of a nearby river. 

The Kona storm, as it’s called, has started to calm as of Monday, but local meterologists are warning that more wet weather is on the way—a devastating forecast for those who have already lost so much. 

A kona low destroys homes in Hawaii

On Monday, the worst of the storm passed. Waterfalls have sprung everywhere and the typically deep blue ocean has turned an unwelcome shade of brown.

But the biggest impact has been the flooding, which in many places has yet to recede. The kona low, a type of seasonal cyclone in the Hawaiian Islands, brought historic levels of water to the island. On Maui, places in the upcountry like Kula 1 saw nearly 45 inches of rainfall, according to local news outlets. 

This is where the Bashaw family live, and as their daughter shared, the devastation was quick and heartbreaking. 

“A normally small or dry stream near their home swelled into a powerful flood during the storm,” Stephanie Ichinose shared on a GoFundMe page set up for her family. 

The rushing water quickly eroded the land, causing trees to fall onto the house. With that, the couple, who are in their 80s, evacuated, taking only their cats and few “precious items.” By the next morning, the house was lost. 

“The floodwaters had swelled so severely that it undercut their property and half of their home had collapsed and was washed away. By the end of the day, the rest of the home and the garage was lost as well,” Ichinose shared. 

Elsewhere on Maui, which is still recovering from the deadly fires in 2023, flooding in the popular tourist destination Kihei caused parts of South Kihei Road to collapse (seen above), damaging sewer and water lines, Maui Emergency Management officials said.

The collapse has caused a delay in emergency services during the critical time.

“We are taxed. We are at the end of our staffing limits right now, but we are pushing through,” Maui Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Kono Davis told Hawaii News Now.

But the other islands did not walk away unscathed. On the Big Island, Mauna Loa contended with 25.45 inches of rainfall, while North Wailua Ditch in Kauai and Schofield Barracks in Oahu both got close to 20 inches as well. 

More rain to come?

Forecasters have cautioned that while the worst conditions may be easing in some areas, flooding can persist and rainfall can still produce problems, especially in saturated locations.

Even as the most severe weather conditions begin to abate in certain regions, forecasters warn that rainfall could still create issues, particularly in areas where the ground is already saturated, and flooding may continue.

“The kona low has lifted well north of the area…. However, the islands remain enveloped in the southern periphery of large scale cyclonic flow aloft which itself is anchored over the central North Pacific," according to the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

Despite more wet weather continuing through this week, the biggest concern remains evacuating residents and restoring power, as nearly 50,000 are without electricity across Oahu, Hawaii Island, and Maui.

“All customers are urged to stay prepared for potential extended outages through the remainder of today into early next week as the storm continues to make its way across the state,” according a Hawaiian Electric statement.