Hawaii’s worst flooding in 20 years threatens dam, prompts evacuations as more rain looms

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For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.Skip to ContentNBC News Logo Politics U.S. News WorldLocalNew YorkLos AngelesChicagoDallas-Fort WorthPhiladelphiaWashington, D.C.BostonBay AreaSouth FloridaSan DiegoConnecticut Sports ShoppingEarly Amazon Big Spring Sale Deals Tipline Culture Science Health BusinessSubscribeShare & Save —Subscriber HubSavedNewslettersProfileSubscriptionPreferencesSearchSearchSectionsU.S. NewsPoliticsWorldBusinessSportsInvestigationsCulture & TrendsHealthScienceTechWeatherVIDEOPhotosNBC SelectNBC Asian AmericaNBC BLKNBC LatinoNBC OUTLocalNew YorkLos AngelesChicagoDallas-Fort WorthPhiladelphiaWashington, D.C.BostonBay AreaSouth FloridaSan DiegoConnecticuttvTodayNightly NewsMeet the PressDatelineFeaturedNBC News NowNightly FilmsStay TunedSpecial FeaturesNewslettersPodcastsListen NowMore From NBCNBC.COMNBCU AcademyPeacockNEXT STEPS FOR VETSNBC News Site MapHelpFollow NBC News news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timeSearchSearchFacebookTwitterEmailSMSBlue SkyWhatsappPrintRedditFlipboardPinterestLinkedinLatest StoriesPoliticsU.S. NewsWorldSportsShoppingTiplineCultureScienceHealthBusinessFloodsHawaii’s worst flooding in 20 years threatens dam, prompts evacuations as more rain loomsFloodwaters lifted homes and cars, causing an estimated $1 billion in damage, and 5,500 people were under evacuation orders as a 120-year-old dam threatened to fail.A neighborhood in Waialua, Hawaii, on Friday. Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu’s North Shore, a community world-renowned for its big-wave surfing.Mengshin Lin / APShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMarch 21, 2026, 3:49 PM EDT / Updated March 21, 2026, 5:13 PM EDT / Source: The Associated PressBy The Associated PressListen to this article with a free account00:0000:00HONOLULU — As Hawaii endures its worst flooding in more than 20 years, officials are urging people in hard-hit areas to “LEAVE NOW.” The warning early Saturday came after heavy rains fell on soil already saturated by downpours from a winter storm a week ago. Still more rain was expected during the weekend, officials said.Muddy floodwaters smothered vast stretches of Oahu’s North Shore, a community world-renowned for its big-wave surfing. Raging waters lifted homes and cars and prompted evacuation orders for 5,500 people north of Honolulu. Authorities cautioned that a 120-year-old dam could fail. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning early Saturday with light to moderate showers expected to turn heavy in some places.Gov. Josh Green said the cost of the storm could top $1 billion, including damage to airports, schools, roads, people’s homes and a Maui hospital in Kula.“This is going to have a very serious consequence for us as a state,” Green said at a news conference.In a video posted on X, Green said that more rain is expected in Oahu and Maui over the weekend, where there will be continued concerns about flooding. "Hawaiʻi — we are still in this," Green wrote in the caption of the video.Most of the state was under a flood watch, with Haleiwa and Waialua in northern Oahu under a flash flood warning, according to the National Weather Service.“Residents in the Waialua area are strongly urged to LEAVE NOW,” an emergency alert said early Saturday. “The remaining access road out of Waialua is at high risk of failure if rainfall continues.”Sirens eventually warned residents in the area to leave. Yet Sienna Creasy told NBC News that she woke up to screams from her neighbors in Waialua hours before any alarms went off.Creasy moved to higher ground, where she said she had a "bird's eye view of the chaos" and could hear someone next door calling out for help. She tracked down his address and posted it to social media. "I posted it to every message board I could find, because his house was floating down into our neighbor’s house, and he’s in there, and he’s screaming for help,” Creasy said.Locals with construction equipment loaded people into the buckets of their tractors, while those with no where to go drove aimlessly through floodwater, Creasy said. Green said his chief of staff spoke to the White House and received assurances the islands would have federal support.Debris carried by the flooded Kaukonahua Stream in Waialua, Hawaii, on Friday. Gov. Josh Green said the cost of the storm could top $1 billion.Mengshin Lin / APMost serious flooding since 2004No deaths were reported and no one was unaccounted for. More than 200 people have been rescued, officials said. About 10 people were taken to a hospital with hypothermia, he said.Crews searched by air and by water for people who had been stranded — efforts that were hampered by people flying personal drones to get images of the flooding, said Ian Scheuring, a spokesperson for Honolulu.The National Guard and Honolulu Fire Department airlifted 72 children and adults who had been attending a spring break youth camp at a retreat on Oahu’s west coast called Our Lady of Kea’au, according to city and camp officials. The camp is on high ground but authorities didn’t want to leave them there, the mayor said.Green said the flooding was the state’s most serious since 2004 floods in Manoa inundated homes and a University of Hawaii library.Dozens — if not hundreds — of homes were damaged Friday but officials haven’t been able to fully assess the destruction, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said. Some 5,500 people were under evacuation orders.“There’s no question that the damage done thus far has been catastrophic,” he said.Officials blamed some of the devastation on the sheer amount of rain that fell in a short amount of time on saturated land. Parts of Oahu received 8 to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of rain overnight. Kaala, the island’s highest peak, got nearly 16 inches (40 cm) in the past day, the National Weather Service said.More rain was expected: Blangiardi said 6 to 8 inches of rain was forecast to fall on Oahu in the next two to three days.Winter storm systems known as “Kona lows,” which feature southerly or southwesterly winds that bring in moisture-laden air, were responsible for the deluges in the past two weeks. The intensity and frequency of heavy rains in Hawaii have increased amid human-caused global warming, experts say.Eyes on an aging damOfficials have been closely watching the Wahiawa dam, which has been vulnerable for decades, saying it was “at risk of imminent failure.”Water levels in the dam — about 17 miles of Honolulu, on the island of Oahu — receded by late Friday but that could change if more rain falls.Overnight into Friday, the dam went from 79 feet to 84 feet — just 6 feet shy of what it can handle, authorities said. After peaking at more than 85 feet, the water level had dropped by early Saturday to 81.5 feet, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Waialua resident Carly Meyers told NBC News that she woke up to about a foot of water in her children's playroom at 1:30 am on Friday. She evacuated to a local high school, which then was evacuated due to the threat of dam failure.“Seems like most people on other states aren’t seeing anything about the floods on the news,” Meyers said. “But most our community is under water.”The state has said Wahiawa dam has “high hazard potential,” and that a failure “will result in probable loss of human life.”The earthen dam was built in 1906 to increase sugar production for the Waialua Agricultural Company, which eventually became a subsidiary of Dole Food Company. It was reconstructed following a collapse in 1921.The state has sent Dole four notices of deficiency about the dam since 2009 and five years ago fined the company $20,000 for failing to address safety deficiencies on time, according to records.Afterward, Dole proposed to donate the dam, reservoir and ditch system to the state in exchange for the state’s agreement to repair the spillway to meet and maintain dam safety standards.The state passed legislation in 2023 authorizing the dam’s acquisition. It also provided $5 million to buy the spillway and $21 million to repair and expand it to comply with dam safety requirements. But the transfer has not been completed. A state board is due to vote on the acquisition next week.“The dam continues to operate as designed with no indications of damage,” Dole said in an emailed statement.The state regulates 132 dams across Hawaii, most of them built as part of irrigation systems for the sugar cane industry, according to a 2019 infrastructure report by the American Society of Civil Engineers.ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleThe Associated PressThe Associated PressNollaig O'Connor and Isabel Yip contributed.AboutContactHelpCareersAd ChoicesPrivacy PolicyYour Privacy ChoicesCA NoticeTerms of ServiceNBC News Subscription Terms of ServiceNBC News SitemapClosed CaptioningSubscribeAdvertiseNBC Select© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLCNBC News LogoToday Logo

Hawaii’s worst flooding in 20 years has triggered a state of emergency, prompting widespread evacuations as torrential rains continue to threaten a compromised dam and exacerbate existing flood conditions. The situation, described by Governor Josh Green as “going to have a very serious consequence for us as a state,” is marked by extensive damage, estimated at over $1 billion, affecting approximately 5,500 residents under evacuation orders. The primary concern revolves around the Wahiawa dam, a 120-year-old structure with “high hazard potential” that reached a critical level late Friday, narrowly avoiding failure.

The crisis is compounded by a series of “Kona lows,” persistent winter storm systems bringing significant moisture to the Hawaiian Islands. These systems have resulted in record rainfall—up to 16 inches (40 cm) on the island’s highest peak, Haleiwa—leading to catastrophic flooding across Oahu’s North Shore, a region renowned for big-wave surfing. Homes and vehicles were submerged, and infrastructure, including airports and schools, has sustained substantial damage. Furthermore, a Maui hospital in Kula was impacted by the flooding.

The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning early Saturday, emphasizing the need for immediate evacuation, particularly in the Waialua area, where access roads are deemed at high risk of collapse if rainfall continues. More than 200 people have been rescued, with approximately 10 transported to hospitals for treatment of hypothermia. Efforts to locate individuals, including a youth camp on Oahu’s west coast, were hampered by the extent of the flooding and the presence of drones being used by residents in search of information. The Honolulu Fire Department and National Guard conducted aerial rescues, accounting for all 72 children and adults attending the youth camp.

Responding to the emergency, Governor Green secured assistance from the White House. The situation has prompted comparisons to the 2004 Manoa floods, the state’s most serious flooding event in over two decades. The damage assessments are ongoing, with officials indicating that the total cost could exceed $1 billion.

A critical component of the challenge is the vulnerability of the Wahiawa dam, built in 1906 for sugar production. Despite prior warnings and notices of deficiency from state regulators dating back to 2009, and a subsequent $21 million investment in a proposed spillway expansion, the dam remains at risk. The situation underscores the potential for catastrophic consequences, with the state board expected to vote next week on the acquisition of the dam after years of negotiations. The aging infrastructure and historical context of the dam’s construction contribute to the urgency of the situation.

The pervasive impact of the flooding is reflected in the experiences of residents, such as Sienna Creasy, who described waking to screams from her neighbors in Waialua and intervening to rescue a stranded resident. The ongoing rain continues to pose a significant threat, with forecasts predicting another 6 to 8 inches within the next two to three days.