Paradise Driver: 10/17/06

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

RAIN

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING

I woke up about 7:30 this morning. Stumbled out for some iced tea and was sitting at my desk when it penetrated my senses that it was raining outside. A very heavy downpour. No wind, just rain, rain and MORE rain. Stayed up for about an hour and the strength of the storm never lightened up at all. This is great sleeping weather, so I crawled bak into my bed. Woke up again around noon and it was still falling just as hard as it was earlier. Never one to miss a golden opportunity, I went back to bed. Slept very comfortably until 4:30 in the afternoon. Now it was just a light drizzle. Had to stay awake, since I was going to take Judy to dinner tonight. Called her about 5 and learned that Mau'i had been under a "Flash Flood Warning" all day. The police were forced to close the Mokulele Highway, which connects Kihei with Kahului. Kihei Road was flooded in all its normal spots to depths of 5 feet and also in other low spots close to the shore that normally just have minimul ponding. The "high" road, Pi'ilani Highway, was also closed intermittently during the day due to run-off from up country. Rocks as big as basketballs were being propelled onto the roadway.

A lot of the businesses in the "Triangle" were flooded out. Thats pretty normal when storms like this occur.

This was our first rainfall since last March. It was desperately needed but this was a bit of overkill. All the shorelines were in brown water conditions from the runoff, which is perfect for Tiger Sharks to feed in during the day.

This storm is also impacting the Big Island where yesterday's epicenter was. Just what they need. NOT!

Judy and I had planned to try out a new mexican restaurant but it was in one of the flooded areas. We opted for OUTBACK instead.

An interesting sign inside OUTBACK.