While heavy rains caused catastrophic flooding throughout the islands of Hawaii March 8-9, Church-owned properties in the Laie area — which includes the Polynesian Cultural Center, Brigham Young University–Hawaii and the Laie Hawaii Temple — have sustained relatively minor damage.
In describing the extent of harm to BYU–Hawaii campus buildings, BYU–H architect James Brown told Newsroom, “The simple summary is that we dodged a bullet.”
The campus sustained some small areas of localized flooding and some wet carpets. The Aloha Center experienced some flooding, which was probably made worse by the adjacent construction site on the new campus cafeteria, Brown explained.
The Laie Hawaii Temple was not impacted.
Polynesian Cultural Center president and CEO Alfred Grace reported to Newsroom that the severe weather caused the center to close on Tuesday, March 9; however, the center resumed normal business operations by Wednesday, March 10.
BYU–Hawaii spokesperson Laura Tevaga expressed gratitude for the safety of the school during the flooding. “We were very fortunate with this storm,” she said. “Our campus drainage system worked as best as it could given the unusual amount of rain we received in such a short period of time.”
Days of torrential rains throughout the Hawaiian islands led to flash floods, landslides and heavy flooding on Monday and Tuesday, prompting Hawaii’s governor to declare a state of emergency. Evacuations and road closures ensued as flood waters caused damage to homes and properties.
R. Eric Beaver, president of Hawaii Reserves, Inc., the company that manages all of the land in the Laie area, reported that most of the damage in Laie was caused by overflow of the Wailele Stream and occurred on Tuesday, March 9.
As the rain moved away from Laie, it moved toward the mountains just behind the town, said residents Jay and Amanda Reid. “The rivers and canals were flooding due to the mountain water runoff, and this water flooded into Laie,” Amanda Reid said.
Hawaii News outlet KHON2 reported that severe weather was the cause of landslides throughout the islands. Landslides in the Kualoa area, 20 minutes south of Laie, shut down Kamehameha Highway.
Dana Plomgren, a senior at BYU–Hawaii, told Newsroom that she and her roommates were a little scared during the storm.
“It was a little scary. We weren’t sure when it was going to let up. The Polynesian Cultural Center had to close, a few buildings on campus closed, and they had to open up a couple of on-campus residence halls to students who lived off campus and were affected by the flooding. We got a few emergency alerts, and our Relief Society president reached out to everyone to see if we needed anything.”
KITC Island News reported how one Church meetinghouse in Waialua served as a donation hub for thousands of donated items for individuals affected by the week’s floods.
This article will be updated.
