Geologic Hazards on Oahu and
Elsewhere in Hawaii:
A Partial History of Recurring
Events, Costs, and Responses*
Earthquakes
Landslides
Debris Flows and Floods
Rock Fall
* Does not include volcanic hazards, tsunamis, or reach erosion
Earthquakes
Hawaii Earthquake Damage
10/15/2006
http://cbs5.com/slideshows/Hawaii.Earthquake.20.433386.html?rid=1
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Hawaii's earthquake losses…
http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/west/2006/11/06/features/74392.htm
… 1,173 homes on the Big Island were
damaged, including 29 that now are
considered uninhabitable.
… preliminary damage estimates from the
earthquake reached $73 million…
… county officials are placing damage
estimates closer to $100 million…
The initial damage tally … $43.5 million for
schools, $7 million at Kawaihae harbor, $11.6
million to businesses, $8.3 million for roads
and bridges and $2 million for water systems
Landslides
Selected Landslides on Oahu
Moanalua Valley
Manoa Valley
Palolo Valley (active)
Aina Haina
1989 Damage, Alani-Paty
Translational Landslide
(photograph from Rex Baum)
Alani-Paty Landslide
http://web.umr.edu/~rogersda/professional_experience/Manoa/manoa.htm
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The landslides encompassed approximately 140 homes in a 10 acre area
and caused substantial damage and economic loss to over thirty homes.
Alani-Paty Landslide
landslides.usgs.gov/docs/faq/significantls_508.pdf
Costs, $34 million (2000 dollars)
The very slow-moving Alani-Paty landslide near
the City of Honolulu, Hawaii, damaged houses,
streets, and utilities on 60 lots of a residential
neighborhood built on a debris apron. The slide is
similar to several others near Honolulu that have
caused millions of dollars in property damage. The
slide area showed signs of movement in the mid or
late 1970s and residents have reported damage to
houses and streets during and immediately
following rain periods, especially during the
winters of 1987 and 1988.
Landslide hits Windward area
cited for its high risk
5/20/2003
http://starbulletin.com/2003/05/21/news/story4.html
State engineer George Abcede looked
over the section where some 40 cubic
yards of earth came off the hillside on
the northwest side of Castle Junction.
The landslide occurred at 6:45 p.m.
yesterday and closed one lane for
about three hours.
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Heavy Rains Add to Misery for
Drivers Caught in Pali Landslide
11/1/2006
http://www.khnl.com/Global/story.asp?S=5622809
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Lava delta lost 23 acres in latest collapse
5/10/07
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/May/18/ln/FP705180368.html
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*Visitor killed in a nearby lava delta collapse on 4/19/93
Debris Flows and Floods
Debris Flows and Floods (East Oahu)
12/31/87
http://books.nap.edu/booksearch.php?term=oahu%20hawaii&record_id=1748
$34,000,000 damage
200-year storm
More than 1250 homes damaged
“A reassessment of some of the flood
zone designations should be
conducted… to determine whether
current hazard designations are
appropriate. In addition, flood hazard
mapping efforts should be extended
to those areas where flood risks are
currently unevaluated.”
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National Research Council
Mud, rocks and water slam Makaha condo
11/14/96
http://starbulletin.com/96/11/14/news/story1.html
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UH salvages what's left
after Halloween Eve flood
10/30/04
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Nov/01/ln/ln01p.html#Anchor-49575
http://www.usatoday.com/weather/news/2004-11-01-hawaii-flood_x.htm
$87M-$100M
damage at UH
Manoa
~50-year storm
Damage to
Hamilton library Cars lifted into trees along Manoa
stream at Woodlawn Drive.
still not completely
repaired
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A computer monitor from
the Hamilton Library lies
on the grass on the
University of Hawaii's
Manoa campus.
Rain causes another mudslide on Round Top
3/22/06
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/Mar/24/ln/FP603240369.html
"This is pretty much a repeat
performance of what happened on
Round Top the day before," city
spokesman Bill Brennan said of the
second landslide in the area in as
many days. "Same place. Same dirt."
Only more of it, said Larry Leopardi,
the city's chief of road maintenance.
Leopardi said the mud and debris
that spilled across Round Top Drive
on Wednesday filled about 23 dump
trucks. Yesterday's daytime haul
filled 28 dump trucks.
"We probably had about 300 cubic
yards on Wednesday," said Leopardi.
Yesterday, it was around 380 cubic
yards.
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Heavy showers bring floods
and 2 more mudslides
3/24/06
http://starbulletin.com/2006/03/25/news/story02.html
Landslides were reported in
Manoa and on Round Top Drive
The mudslide is the fourth in as
many days in the area. Officials
said it was about four times bigger
than the previous slides.
Michael Hofmann and Linda
Green's home on Puuhonua Street
in Manoa was flooded by mud
due to the recent heavy rains.
Workers helped shovel the mud
into buckets and formed a human
chain to carry it all out.
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Maunalaha residents flee
as mud covers road
3/31/06
http://starbulletin.com/2006/04/01/news/story03.html
About 30 Maunalaha Road
residents evacuated their homes
yesterday after heavy rain brought
an avalanche of mud down a 200foot slope into their properties.
The landslide created a crevice
20 feet wide from Round Top
Drive down into Maunalaha
Valley where residents have
watched smaller slides carry taro,
banana and other plants down the
hill in the past two weeks.
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Digging out ...
4/3/06
http://starbulletin.com/2006/04/04/news/story01.html
A landslide on Round Top
Drive blanketed the
roadway yesterday and
buried traffic barriers.
Army National Guard and
Air National Guard
soldiers were at the scene
yesterday of the recent
landslides on Round Top
Drive, shoveling dirt into
bags for use as barriers
against further erosion if
rain returns.
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Round Top to get fast attention*
4/20/06
http://starbulletin.com/2006/04/20/news/story08.html
On March 24, thundershowers caused a huge mudslide on
Round Top Drive, forcing the closure of the roadway, the
fourth in as many days.
A week later, on March 31, a severe landslide brought
down mud and black sand that covered the roadway more
than 3 feet deep.
State Sen. Carol Fukunaga said it is "scary for legislators"
because the costs might total $20 million just for the
Round Top/Maunalaha Valley area, when the state is
looking at many other flood-devastated areas.
* The road is still closed as of 12/2/07
Round Top Drive: Mudslide Blocked
Access
12/4/07
http://kgmb9.com/main/content/view/1461/91/
Overnight, rain ran down from Round Top
Drive above.
The saturated hillside washed down and
covered the road with about three feet of
mud.
Rockfalls
Rockfall sites on Oahu
http://starbulletin.com/2003/05/16/news/index1.html
1. Kalanianaole Highway at Makapuu
2. Kamehameha Highway near Waimea
Bay
3. Kamehameha Highway near Kahuku
4. Pali Highway, Kailua bound, side of
roadway past Castle Junction
5. Pali Highway, Kaneohe side of
roadway
at Castle Juntion
6. Kamehameha Highway near Kipapa
Gulch Bridge
7. Kamehameha Highway near Wahiawa
8. Pali Highway just before Kailua
Town
9. Farrington Highway before
Yokohama Bay
10. Kamehameha Highway near
Wahiawa
Partial List of Oahu Rockfalls (12)
1954-1962
http://starbulletin.com/2002/08/10/news/index1.html
March 1954: A 6-ton boulder crashes into a bedroom on Waolani Avenue in Puunui.
November 1954: A 2-ton boulder crashes through the roof of a Palolo Valley home.
November 1955: A large rock crushes the leg of an 11-year-old boy.
November 1956: A 1,000-pound boulder loosened by torrential rains smashes into a Niu Valley home,
stopping short of a bed on which a woman is sitting.
April 1958: A Palolo Valley home is hit by a 1-ton boulder.
July 1958: A boulder crashes into an Aina Haina yard, narrowly missing a mother and her three children.
August 1958: A 2-ton boulder crashes into a Kalihi bedroom, missing two children.
June 1960: A rock damages a Lanikai garage and misses children's bedroom.
October 1960: Two 1-ton boulders crashes into a Kalihi Valley home.
February 1961: A 2-ton rock strikes an Aina Haina home.
March 1961: A boulder crushes a car outside Palolo Valley Home.
January 1962: A 2-ton boulder crashes through the roof of a Manoa Valley home.
Partial List of Oahu Rockfalls (12)
1962-2000
http://starbulletin.com/2002/08/10/news/index1.html
August 1962: Eight-year-old Lei Ushijima is killed by a boulder at her Aina Haina home.
September 1962: A 6-ton boulder crashes through the wall of an Aina Haina home
September 1965: A 2-ton boulder crushes Henry and Konimi Cho in their Manoa living room. (See related story.)
April 1970: A Waianae woman is injured when a boulder rolls down a hillside and strikes her car in Moanalua Valley.
February 1974: A falling boulder on the beach in Kihei, Maui, kills a Canadian visitor.
September 1992: A boulder tumbles down the north side of Manoa Valley and smashes into a Huelani Drive house struck by
a boulder in 1977.
October 1992: A girl is injured when a boulder crashes through her family's Niu Valley home.
February 1993: A boulder falls on a female hiker on a ridge above Pali Highway.
March 1993: A 2 1/2-foot-tall boulder falls off a sheer cliff face and crashes into a back corner of a Palolo Valley home.
April 1993: A 10-ton boulder rolls down a Manoa hillside and smashes into a house.
May 1999: Eight people are killed in the Mother's Day rockslide at Sacred Falls Park.
March 2000: A rockslide near Waimea Bay temporarily closes a stretch of Kamehameha Highway.
Six dead after Sacred Falls
landslide
A roar like thunder,
then screams of agony
5/9/1999
http://starbulletin.com/1999/05/10/news/index.html
At least 6 are dead
and 33 are hurt;
more could be
buried by boulders
Sacred Falls death toll rises to eight
http://starbulletin.com/1999/05/11/news/index.html
Recurring Rock Falls at Sacred Falls
http://starbulletin.com/1999/05/10/news/index.html
May 1999: 8 killed and ~32 injured during Mother’s Day rock
avalanche
May 1, 1993, a 22-year-old airman from Hickam Air Force Base was
injured when a rock hit him on the head about 150 feet from the falls.
Oct. 28, 1991, a man and two women were injured when rocks fell on
their head and back. Police said rocks fell because they became loose
after heavy rains.
January 1982, a girl, 4, was killed when she was hit on the head by a
falling rock at the pool.
May 24, 1970, 30 hikers were trapped under an avalanche. A survivor
told the Star-Bulletin "the air was filled with rocks." One man was
seriously injured and two women suffered minor injuries.
Since Sacred Falls has been a state park, the number of
injuries reported has averaged close to 1/month
Assessment of Landslide Hazards in Kaluanui
and Maakua Gulches, Oahu, Hawaii Following
the 9 May 1999 Sacred Falls Landslide
Summary and Conclusions
USGS Open-File Report 99-364
http://landslides.usgs.gov/recent/archives/1999sacredfalls.php
The Sacred Falls landslide occurred as a result of long-term, gradual degradation of the
slope rather than by being triggered by external factors.
The ongoing level of landslide hazard does not appear to have been significantly increased
by the Sacred Falls landslide.
The continuing (long-term) level of landslide hazard in the Kaluanui and Maakua
Gulches is very high because of the steep, high canyon walls; narrow valley floors; and
ongoing slope weathering and rock fall.
Traditional methods to mitigate rock-fall hazards are not viable in these steep, narrow
canyon environments.
Detailed assessment of rock-fall hazards is possible using a combination of ground,
aerial, and aerial-photographic investigations.
State cited for Sacred Falls
http://starbulletin.com/2002/09/25/news/story1.html
The state did not
adequately warn park
users of rockfall hazards,
a judge rules
The state was negligent in
failing to adequately warn
visitors of the falling-rock
hazards at Sacred Falls
State Park, a state judge
has ruled.
In his ruling, Del Rosario
found that the rock fall
was not due to an "act of
God" as asserted by the
state.
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Rock slide shuts road at Waimea
3/6/00
http://starbulletin.com/2000/03/06/news/
DLNR Chief
Geologist Glenn
Bauer* (left) explains
how the basalt
boulder came
crashing down on the
Honda driven by
Meredith Day (right,
of Chico, Calif.).
Candis Burton
(center, of Sunset
Beach) was a
passenger.
* Now retired
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Haleiwa Blues
Business has been falling
like rocks on the highway
http://starbulletin.com/2000/04/21/news/story2.html
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Partial List of Oahu Rockfalls (4)
2002
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2002/Dec/07/ln/ln02a.html
Aug. 9: A 5-ton boulder smashed into a Nu'uanu home, killing 26-year-old Dara Rei Onishi.
Oct. 15: An early-morning slide sent a truckload of debris onto Kalaniana'ole Highway, prompting
officials to close the road. Most of the rocks were small, officials said, with a few about 2 feet across.
Nov. 24: A 2-pound rock fell from the cliffs above Makapu'u Beach and shattered the windshield of
a car traveling in the Hawai'i Kai-bound lane. Two days later, a subcontractor working on the rockfall
mitigation project on Kalaniana'ole Highway advised drivers to avoid the area during or after heavy
rain, saying rainfall could further erode the cliffs and release loose rocks onto the road below. It was
not raining at the time of the Nov. 24 incident.
Nov. 28: After heavy rainfall, a dozen volleyball-size rocks fell from the cliffs above Makapu'u
Beach, forcing closure of Kalaniana'ole Highway. Several hours later, two boulders tumbled down
a hillside in Hawai'i Kai and struck a condominium at 7168 Hawai'i Kai Drive plus two vehicles.
Fire officials said one boulder was about 4 feet by 4 feet, the other 4 feet by 6 feet.
1 Dead after Boulder Smashes
Nuuanu Home
8/9/02
http://starbulletin.com/2002/08/09/news/
http://starbulletin.com/2002/08/10/news/
A 26-year-old Nuuanu
woman was killed in her
sleep early this morning
when a six-ton boulder
tumbled down a steep
hillside and slammed into
her bedroom.
Rock Fall - Henry St. #1
Lalea Residents Face Months Of Uncertainty
Three 100-Ton Boulders Pose Threat
12/10/2002
http://www.thehawaiichannel.com/news/1828857/detail.html
Hawaii Kai residents will be forced from
their homes because of falling boulders may
have to stay out for a month or two, officials
said Monday.
Two boulders came crashing down into the
Lalea townhouses on Thanksgiving Day and
geologists warned that three more 100-ton
boulders could fall next.
Geologists spent the day surveying the
hillside above the development Monday.
Crews secured more boulders with cable over
the weekend, but residents want a
comprehensive survey.
"I know they did check it originally before
we moved in, but that was six years ago. So
my concern would be that the whole complex
is safe from any rocks coming down from the
hillside," Lalea resident John O'Neill said.
Partial List of Rockfalls on Oahu (9)
and in Elsewhere in Hawaii
2003-2007
5/11/2004: Nuuanu Valley
9/14/2004: East Maui
1/26/2006: Nuuanu Valley
3/31/2006: Diamond Head
10/15/2006: Numerous rockfalls on Hawaii and Maui
during M 6.7 earthquake
4/7/2007: Waimea Bay
5/28/2007: Diamond Head
11/4/2007: Aina Haina
11/4/2007: Palolo Valley
11/4/2007: Kailua
11/12/2007: Lalea
Boulder smashes into Nu'uanu home
5/10/04
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/May/11/ln/ln03a.html
"I'm lucky it went another
way," said Hamakado, who
has lived in her white house
on Henry Street for 23
years
Honolulu Police Department
officer Jon Hinazumi, who
was the first officer on scene
two years ago when Dara
Rei Onishi was killed in a
similar accident nearby, was
amazed such a freak event
could happen in the same
place twice.
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Rock Fall - Henry St. #2
Falling rock in East Maui kills
national park ranger
9/14/04
http://starbulletin.com/2004/09/15/news/index9.html
A female ranger at Haleakala National Park
was fatally injured yesterday while trying to
clear a rockslide near the Kaapahu area in
east Maui.
She was hit by another rock from the
nearby hillside, he said.
Boulder threatens home
1/26/06
http://starbulletin.com/2006/01/28/news/story04.html
… the same area where two
large boulders recently crashed
down hillsides.
On Aug. 9, 2002, Dara Rei Onishi
was killed by a 6-ton boulder that
crashed into her parents' Henry
Street home as she slept.
On May 10, 2004, a 4-foot boulder
fell down a mountainside and
narrowly missed a Nuuanu woman
and crashed into her house on
Henry Street.
On Thursday night the three
boulders -- the biggest about 4 feet
long by 2 1/2 feet wide -- careened
down the hillside and became
lodged above the two-story house
at Kaimuohema Place.
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Rock Fall - Henry St. #3
Diamond Head rock fall fixed
4/10/2006
http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2006/04/10/daily36.html
One of the last rain-related disruptions to Hawaii
tourism has ended with the reopening of the road
around Diamond Head following a rock slide.Workers
under the supervision of the Hawaii Department of
Land and Natural Resources spent nine days on
"emergency rock-fall mitigation" at the exterior base of
Diamond Head State Monument.
Heavy rains triggered a rock slide on March 31,
immediately upslope of the third lookout on Diamond
Head Road. That was the same night that Kahala Mall
was flooded and Hawaiian Telcom, while retaking
control of 80 computer systems from the Mainland,
faced scores of rain-related phone outages.
Surveys to close Diamond Head
1/10/07
http://starbulletin.com/2007/01/10/news/story10.html
The Diamond Head State
Monument will close early
for four days this month
for inspection for rockfall
hazards.
Here, hikers Sergio
Niccolo, left, Milan Bolic,
Jovana Bolic and Ivana
Nedjic hiked the
switchbacks down the trail
after visiting the summit
yesterday.
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Waimea Bay rocked again
4/7/07
http://starbulletin.com/2007/04/08/news/story01.html
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Rockfalls are persistent and
expensive dilemma
http://starbulletin.com/2007/04/10/news/story02.html#jump
As the state continues work after Saturday's rockfall
at Waimea Bay, officials are looking at other rockslide
hazard sites and what needs to be done.
Some four years since officials first listed the top 10
hazard locations, the work has been slow in coming,
and officials are finding that fixing the problems will
cost a lot of money.
The state plans to do slope improvement work to the
lower part of the cliff side at Makapuu along
Kalanianaole Highway. The project is in the design
process. Officials hope to start work later this year....
About $11 million was set aside in the budget for the
project.
Owner of Diamond Head
fallen rock ledge in dispute
5/28/07
http://starbulletin.com/2007/05/30/news/story07.html
… a rockfall Monday injured a 44-year-old
woman…She suffered injuries to her upper body
and was taken to the Queen's Medical Center by
ambulance in serious condition
..it was not exactly a rockfall, but a "toppling or
slumping event …"
Two large chunks … broke off, one the size of a
compact car and the other the size of a delivery
truck
Aina Haina & Palolo Valley
11/4/07
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071105/NE
WS01/711050353/1001
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A tarp covers the area where a boulder
crashed through the bedroom wall of a
home on 10th Avenue in Palolo. The
boulder measured about 4 feet by 3 feet
by 2 feet.
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Another 4-foot boulder crashed into
the back of a house on Hao Street in
'Aina Haina following heavy rains,
leaving behind this broken window
and wall in the living room.
10-ton rock slams into Kailua home
11/4/07
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/07/news/story01.html
Boulder crashes near site of
2002 Hawaii Kai rockslide
11/12/07
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Nov/13/br/br1073269854.html
A 2 1/2-ton boulder fell from a hillside
above the Lalea townhome complex in
Hawai'i Kai Monday night and landed
about 10 feet from a home where the
family inside slept.
The rockslide occurred a few hundred
yards from where two boulders the size
of garbage dumpsters crashed into
parked cars in the Lalea complex on
Thanksgiving Day 2002, forcing the
evacuation of 26 families.
Officials from Castle & Cooke, which
developed the 290-unit complex, and
Kamehameha Schools, which owns the
hillside, said today that they were still
evaluating the situation.
Following the 2002 rockslides, the two
organizations spent about $3 million to
clear the hillside of debris and install
wire fencing.
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Boulder: Lalea Complex is Hit Again
11/12/07
http://starbulletin.com/2007/11/14/news/story01.html
A 2 1/2-ton boulder tumbled down a
hillside in Hawaii Kai Monday into the
Lalea townhouse complex.
There were no injuries, and damage was
limited to a concrete ditch and retaining
wall, an access road surface and a fence.
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Lalea is the same subdivision where two
boulders rolled down the side of Mariner's
Ridge five years ago, damaging two cars
and forcing the evacuation of 26 units.
Monday's boulder came from a section of
the hillside not covered by protective
netting installed after the 2002 incident.
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~400-ton Boulder
NW slope of Koko Crater
9/28/03
Estimated Costs since 1989
Process
Key Events
Estimated Cost
Floods
1989, 2004
>$150 M
Earthquakes
2006
$200 M
Landslides
1989, 2007
>$50-$70
Rockfall
1999, 2000, 2002, >$50 M
2006, 2007
Debris Flows
1989, 1997
TOTAL
$10 M
>$500 M
Responses
H.B. NO. 1376 (2001)
A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to public highways
•BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF
HAWAII:SECTION 1. The legislature finds that there are several hazardous
locations throughout the State public highway system that pose
imminent danger to the health and safety of the residents of and visitors
to the State. An example of this is the rock fall that recently occurred at
Waimea bay and damaged a driver's car. ... Another example of a hazardous
location that poses an imminent danger is the rock cliff at Makapuu point on the
island of Oahu. … On numerous occasions, rocks and boulders of all sizes
have fallen from the cliff onto Kalanianaole highway. …The legislature
finds that the aforementioned hazardous locations along the State
highway system also pose an imminent threat to the local and State
economy. … This led to significant losses in productivity, retail and
wholesale sales, a substantial decrease in visitor traffic to the area,
increased transportation costs, and a major disruption to the lives and
routines of area residents…Similarly, should a rock fall occur at Makapuu
sufficient to cut-off through traffic on Kalanianaole highway, not only will life and
limb be at risk, but it would have a devastating financial impact on the
economy of the area and the State. …The legislature finds that it has
been a matter of luck that more "Waimea's" have not occurred…
NEWS RELEASE
Department of Transportation
10/28/2002
October 28, 2002
02-203
The state Department of Transportation announces that Governor
Benjamin Cayetano signed a natural disaster proclamation for
Kalanianaole Highway in the Makapuu area, which will expedite
the Makapuu Rockfall Mitigation project.An informational meeting
will be held tonight for the project at 7 p.m. in the Waimanalo
School & Public Library, located at 41-1320 Kalanianaole
Highway.The meeting agenda will include the proposed
accelerated and compressed work schedule for the emergency
rockfall mitigation measures along Kalanianaole Highway at
Makapuu Point.All interested persons are invited to attend.###
State to tackle rock-fall dangers
3/28/2005
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2005/Mar/28/ln/ln07p.html
The state will spend more than $4
million to protect homes in Nu'uanu
and motorists in Pacific Palisades as
part of a growing effort to prevent injury
and property damage from falling rocks.
The Nu'uanu project marks the first time
the state has taken protective measures
near a residential area.
DLNR Chairman Peter Young: "There
are too many slopes in Hawai'i that have
rocks that can fall down them," he said.
"We are not inspecting every potential
rock. You just can't do it. The scale is too
great."
Area resident Michael T. Jones was
surprised to hear about the danger."I
didn't even know there was a
problem," he said.
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State focuses on rock risks
5/30/2005
http://starbulletin.com/2005/05/30/news/index7.html
"There's no official survey, but when
dangers are brought to our attention ... we
can determine whether or not additional
review is needed," said Morris Atta,
special-projects coordinator for the state
Department of Land and Natural
Resources' Land Division.
He said there has been discussion of
generating a state- or islandwide
assessment of rockfall hazards, but such a
survey would likely cost millions.
"We don't have the resources to do
it," Atta said. "It's just a really daunting
task."
But he did say that DLNR is looking to
tackle other rockfall hazards. For
example, officials are looking to hire a
consultant to analyze the risks to homes of
rockfalls along Round Top Drive in
Makiki.
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Christopher Prendergast stands next to a fence
that was smashed earlier by boulders that rolled
down the hill along Komo Mai Drive.
Hawaii to spend $14M to prevent rockfalls
7/25/07
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Jul/25/ln/hawaii707250407.html
Hawai'i plans to spend at least $14 million in the next two years to
reduce the risk of rockslides…. almost as much as has been spent by
the state since 2003.
DLNR's current budget includes $2 million to make Diamond Head
safer from rockfall dangers. But the latest estimate to do the work
correctly has risen to $6 million.
The quickened pace of new projects follows decades of hillside neglect
in the Islands, said Cliff Tillotson, vice president of Santa Barbara, Calif.based Prometheus Construction…. "Before, Hawai'i was like an ostrich
with its head in the sand," Tillotson said.
"There is a lot of work coming up in Hawai'i because of all of the rockfall
problems," said Daniel Journeaux, president and owner of Quebec-based
Janod Inc. Hawai'i's problems first piqued Journeaux's interest six years
ago, when he began noticing more and more news stories "where there
were fatalities and rockfall problems. They were getting more and
more consistent."
Lingle tags $2M for Diamond Head
rockfall mitigation
11/6/2007
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Nov/06/br/br0815642973.html
Gov. Linda Lingle has released $2 million for ongoing rockfall
mitigation and slope stabilization improvements to the interior
and exterior areas of the Diamond Head State Monument on
O'ahu, including at the entrance into the crater and along
Diamond Head Road.
"This project is a critical part of our initiative to ensure the
safety of Hawai'i's state parks and facilities and will protect
park users and home owners with residences along Diamond
Head's exterior slopes," Lingle said in a news release.
GOVERNOR LINGLE
RELEASES $800,000 FOR
ROCKFALL MITIGATION ON
KAUA‘I
11/06/07
http://www.hawaii.gov/gov/news/releases/Folder.2007-0131.1527/News_Item.2007-11-06.4339
HONOLULU – Governor Linda Lingle has released $800,000 for rockfall
mitigation in Waimea, Kaua‘i. The project will protect a private residence
from potential rockfall hazards originating from state-owned land located
upslope from the residence.
“This rockfall mitigation project is an example of the proactive approach we
are taking to ensure public safety,” said Governor Lingle.
Natural Hazards in Hawaii
Sole state with no Geological Survey
No staff
No budget
No archive of data or maps
Natural Hazards in Hawaii
Sole state with no Geological Survey
No staff
No budget
No archive of data or maps
State is reactionary, not prepared
Long history of not learning from past
events
Natural Hazards in Hawaii
Sole state with no Geological Survey
No staff
No budget
No archive of data or maps
State is reactionary, not prepared
Long history of not learning from past events
Powerful local interests thwart legislation
Inadequate training of local professionals
State ineligible for certain federal funds
Possible loss of federally-subsidized flood
insurance
A Role for SOEST & GG
SOEST has expertise & potential…
GG:
• Fletcher
• Garcia
• Houghton
• Martel
• Sinton
• Wessel
HIGP:
• Brooks
• Fagents
• Harris
• Wolfe
A Role for SOEST & GG
SOEST has expertise & potential…
Expertise is uncoordinated
State funding for research and graduate education
absent or unreliable (except for Fletcher)
Opportunities for excellence in research & teaching
and critical state service is being missed - SOEST
could change this
GG has identified natural hazard mitigation as a key
area in its 2006-2016 strategic plan
Partial Listing of Damaging
Geologic Events since 1989
Landslides
Palolo Valley (now)
Manoa Valley (1989 Big Island lava delta collapses (5/19/93, 5/10/07)
Rockfall
Sacred Falls (8 dead, 50 injured)
Makapuu (Kalanianiole Highway; 3/6/00, 4/7/07)
Waimea (Kalanianiole Highway)
Nuuanu (3 rockfalls on Henry St., 2004-2005, 1 death)
Lalea (Hawaii Kai), Palolo, Aina Haina, Kailuea, …
Debris Flows and Floods
East Oahu (1989)
Waianae Coast (11/1996)
Makaha (11/1996; 11/1996)
Manoa Valley (2006)
Manoa Valley (Halloween, 2004; ~$100M damage to UH)
Natural Hazards in Hawaii
Volcanic
Earthquake
Landslides
Rockfall
Debris flows
Floods
Tsunami
Beach erosion
Dam Safety*
Rock Avalanche - Sacred
Falls
http://starbulletin.com/1999/05/10/news/index.html
How it Happened*
* The actual avalanche is poorly represented by this illustration
Boulder threatens home
Three large rocks are lodged
above a Nuuanu residence
1/26/06
http://starbulletin.com/2006/01/28/news/story04.html
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On Thursday night the three
boulders -- the biggest about 4 feet
long by 2 1/2 feet wide -- careened
down the hillside and became
lodged above the two-story house at
Kaimuohema Place.
Neighbors informed Heafner that
the Department of Land and Natural
Resources would not send
geologists to survey the situation
since the property was privately
owned.
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Barreling boulder hits Nuuanu
home
5/10/04
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http://starbulletin.com/2004/05/11/news/story1.html
A woman escapes
serious injury in a
house one block
from a fatal boulder
fall in 2002
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Overnight mudslide closes Roundtop
Drive
3/22/06
http://khon.com/khon/display.cfm?storyID=12242&sid=1152
Roundtop Drive in Makiki was reopened
Wednesday morning around 9 o'clock following
a massive mudslide overnight.
The mud, about six feet high at some points
on the road, fell around two o'clock
Wednesday morning, during the heavy rains.
An Oahu Civil Defense spokesman says this
area has had mudslides in the past.
Debris Flow - Manoa Valley
3/21?/06
http://www.kgmb.com/kgmb/display.cfm?storyID=7615
Home Spared,
Neighborhood Not
"All I can say is 'not
again'," said resident
Ken Numasaki.
The mess was coming
down from up high from behind the house
a mudslide rammed
into a week ago.
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Manoa Valley home
New TV show to document
Sacred Falls’ tragic rockfall
http://starbulletin.com/2001/03/24/news/story15.html
A new Travel Channel show may debut in early summer with a
segment about the Mother’s Day Sacred Falls tragedy.
“Secrets of Travel Survival” is filming this week on Oahu using a local
camera crew, said producer Frank Snepp.
The show will focus on advising travelers to play it safe when they are
exploring unknown locations.”
We will advise them to be sensible, find out about the weather, if there
have been any incidents in the area," Snepp said.
He [Snepp] acknowledged that the May 9, 1999, Sacred Falls
rockfall, in which eight people were killed and 34 injured, is not
something anyone could have known was going to happen. The
show will give general tips such as heading for a valley wall in the
event of a rockfall.
H.B. NO. 1376
A BILL
FOR ANBYACT
relating toOFpublic
highways
•BE IT ENACTED
THE LEGISLATURE
THE STATE
OF
HAWAII:SECTION 1. The legislature finds that there are several hazardous
locations throughout the State public highway system that pose imminent
danger to the health and safety of the residents of and visitors to the State. An
example of this is the rock fall that recently occurred at Waimea bay and
damaged a driver's car. ... Another example of a hazardous location that poses
an imminent danger is the rock cliff at Makapuu point on the island of Oahu. …
On numerous occasions, rocks and boulders of all sizes have fallen from the
cliff onto Kalanianaole highway. …The legislature finds that the aforementioned
hazardous locations along the State highway system also pose an imminent
threat to the local and State economy. … This led to significant losses in
productivity, retail and wholesale sales, a substantial decrease in visitor traffic
to the area, increased transportation costs, and a major disruption to the lives
and routines of area residents…Similarly, should a rock fall occur at Makapuu
sufficient to cut-off through traffic on Kalanianaole highway, not only will life and
limb be at risk, but it would have a devastating financial impact on the economy
of the area and the State. …The legislature finds that it has been a matter of
luck that more "Waimea's" have not occurred…
Highway Rockfall Sites on
Oahu
http://starbulletin.com/2003/05/16/news/index1.html
1. Kalanianaole Highway at Makapuu
2. Kamehameha Highway near Waimea
Bay
3. Kamehameha Highway near Kahuku
4. Pali Highway, Kailua bound, side of
roadway past Castle Junction
5. Pali Highway, Kaneohe side of
roadway at Castle Juntion
6. Kamehameha Highway near Kipapa
Gulch Bridge
7. Kamehameha Highway near Wahiawa
8. Pali Highway just before Kailua Town
9. Farrington Highway before Yokohama
Bay
10. Kamehameha Highway near
Wahiawa
Hawaii Kai
15 Seconds
http://starbulletin.com/2006/10/16/
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