\u00a0it\u2019s like in Hawai\u02bbi right now.<\/em><\/p>\nI came to O\u02bbahu to visit my family on March 10. I was planning to swim every day, hike, and climb, but it\u2019s been raining every day since I arrived. Two massive storm systems called Kona low moved through and sat over the islands for a few days, dumping feet of rain, saturating the ground, and causing devastating flooding in parts of O\u02bbahu.<\/p>\n
I was born in Honolulu, and my family lives on O\u02bbahu. I now live in New Mexico, so I\u2019m all too familiar with another type of natural disaster: wildfire. I had to evacuate my house in 2011 due to the Las Conchas Fire, and then, in 2022, the Hermit\u2019s Creek Fire, which burned 340,000 acres, got within a mile of my house\u2014as the crow flies.\u00a0I know what it\u2019s like to see ash fall like snow on your car and have to scramble at the last minute to make difficult decisions about what to take with you and what to leave behind for chance. My family in Honolulu and on the leeward side of the island was not evacuated, but one of my friends in Honolulu had to move out of her apartment due to flooding.<\/p>\nResidents and volunteers work on cleaning up after the Kona Low storm flood that devastated the Otake Camp community<\/span> (Photo: Marco GARCIA \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nMy friend, whose apartment flooded, texted me to go up to Waialua to volunteer. Wailalau is about 30 miles north of Honolulu. On March 22, we loaded up a car with water, cleaning supplies, and snacks from Costco and Home Depot and drove up to the Waialua Sugar Mill, where a significant volunteer and donation mobilization effort is taking place. Word has spread thanks largely to Instagram, which is currently the most up-to-date source\u00a0for information from the floods. The Haleiwa Distilling company, a popular destination that makes rum and moonshine,\u00a0serves as a landing spot for donations and volunteers, mainly supported by the Lahui Foundation and a massive team of volunteers organized by locals Esme Damon and Brie Thomson.<\/p>\n
After we received direction, we hopped into the back of a truck and joined a cleanup crew. We were sent to Otake Camp in the nearby town of Wailua, a community of several houses next to the Kaukonahua stream. The flooding left the road, driveways, yards, cars, and homes covered in mud. Once we arrived, there were already multiple cleanup crews and backhoes shoveling and moving mud and hauling trash. Volunteers were handing out face masks in case anyone went inside the houses to mitigate the smell of septic overflow, agricultural runoff, and mildew.<\/p>\n
We grabbed gloves and shovels and started clearing mud from an area in front of a door. It was like moving fudge, heavy and slippery. But we were able to clear it with multiple people working together in an assembly line. It quickly became clear that heavy machinery was needed to effectively clear the mud from the area, so our crew of seven decided to give a work crew space and clear out, and we headed back to the distillery.<\/p>\n
My friends and I stayed at the distillery for the rest of the day, organizing donations, loading and unloading cars, and assisting people who were picking up supplies. I was stationed outside helping to load and unload cars. It was nonstop. Cars kept coming, people were picking up supplies for themselves, for their neighbors, and for entire neighborhoods that did not have access to vehicles or were overwhelmed with the cleanup. The coordinators took note of areas with multiple families in need of help so we could dispatch teams to drop off supplies.<\/p>\nKali Retzler, center, pulls Geoffrey Browne onto a truck as fellow volunteers carry debris from a home impacted by the flood in Haleiwa, Hawai\u02bbi<\/span>\u00a0(Photo: Stephen Lam\/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nOn the morning of March 23, after I dropped off my mom at work, I went back to Home Depot and picked up some of the items volunteer crews needed: brooms, dust pans, squeegees, trash bags, and towels. I sent out a message to a group chat to see if anyone wanted to carpool, but ended up heading up by myself.<\/p>\n
Once there, I dropped off the donations and quickly hopped in another volunteer\u2019s truck to deliver items directly to people\u2019s homes. We could get a sense of the destruction during these drives. On Waialiua Beach Road, a major thoroughfare in town,\u00a0where we delivered supplies to three houses, we saw a car wedged under a home, an entire home washed up on the side of a bridge, sidewalks washed out, and people and trucks everywhere shoveling mud and moving trash. Everywhere we looked\u2014down side roads, at busy intersections\u2014folks were giving out food and water, ensuring everyone from the community and volunteers were fed. Representative Sean Quinlan estimated thousands came to the Waialua Sugar Mill to get food, drop off donations, and volunteer on Sunday alone.<\/p>\n
How to Help with the Hawai\u02bbi Floods<\/h2>\n The early hours of the disaster relied on grassroots efforts, but with each passing hour, it\u2019s becoming more and more organized. There are many ways you can help.<\/p>\n
Rethink Your Vacation<\/h3>\n If you come to Hawai\u02bbi for vacation, do not go to the North Shore of O\u02bbahu, which is overwhelmed with the flooding aftermath right now. Either reroute your trip, or plan a visit for another time.<\/p>\n
How to Volunteer<\/h3>\n If you are in the area and want to volunteer, don\u2019t go out alone. Find a volunteer hub or fill out the volunteer form. O\u02bbahu Flood Relief<\/a> or the L\u0101hui Foundation Post-flood Recovery Efforts<\/a> are great places to start.<\/p>\nDonate<\/h3>\n You can donate money. There are several recommended organizations to donate to right now, and the list is growing every day:<\/p>\n
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