The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-04-02
IN SOUTH kauai
Graphic Account Of the Flood In
One District.
SEVERAL BRIDGES SWEPT AWAY
~ early TWO Inches of Rain In One
Nearly TWO Inches of Rain In One
Hour-Peopie Fled for Their
Lives Water On All Lowlands.

Especial Correspondence from Hama
pepe, KauaD.
For a week all this section has been
deluged with rain. At Eleele IA inches
of water fell in one hour.
The climax came at midnight, March
90. The bridge at Hanapepe, the new
bridge at Laval and the three or four
new ones built on the road being con-
structed north of Koloa, which is a
short cut from Laval to Lhue, were
carried away.
The Waimea bridge is damaged-not
passable, but not carried off. In Wal
mea the water rose over all the low
land, coming into Mr.. Hofgaard's store.
In KOloa it was the same, flooding all
the low land and rising high enough
to submerge the bullock carts in the
plantation corral. At Laval, Wahi-
ava and all the above places, rice suf-
fered more or less and in some places
was destroyed.
Hanapepe had no immunity from
the torrent. Water rose about nine
feet, and all one could hear above the
pouring floods, was the Japanese or
Chinese saying, "Too muchey pilikia,"
with a prolonged, voluoninOus en-
phasis on the ''too." Numerous Ian
terms were seen above the surface Of
the floCd lighting the refugees to plains
of safety Now and then pig went
down the stream, and an other pig with
rope around it's hind leg and the
owner at the other end of the rope,
went less easily to higher ground. One
Portuguese was rudely awakened from
bed into a foot of water on his floor.
His chickens were already among
the lamented and his cow had to be
driven to higher ground. The water
rose two feet high in some houses and
people had to wade waist deep to get
out. 1t rose to the steps of the teach
er's cottage and within four inches of
the floor of he school house. Here and
there fences and outhuildings are car
ried eff, and the remaining ones are
loaded with weeds.
The Hanapepe bridge was made Of
heavy timbers and when the water rose
to it a mass of rushes and debris was
collected. Against this the water press
ed and rose until the bridge gave way.
AS soon as the bridge broke the water
fell Is or 20 inches [ am told that
the bridges at Waimea, Hanapepe and
INailua were carried away some II
years ago. Since the Hanapepe bridge
costing about $S 5000, was built in 1885,
water has been up to it a number Of
times, and in one case was six inches
over the floor.
From this disaster q few points are
worth noting, for the construction of a
new bridge. 1t should be raised some
TWO feet and then the lower timbers
would be above high water, the
should offer as little re-
sistance to water as possible; the ap-
prOaches should be as low as the i'm
mediate grade to the bridge would per-
nit, in order that the flood water might
have extra room for escape. The
bridge could be strengthened for these
extreme occasions by running cables,
possibly old steam plow cables to the
banks and there anchor them IN eX-
,avatiOns filled with sufficient rock.
believe this simple addition would have
saved Hanapepe bridge and probably
he others.