County officials say staff are inspecting and clearing culverts, and inspecting and testing drainage pumps to confirm they operate. Sand plugs are being lowered in Kīhei to help potential release of floodwaters. Also, traffic control devices are being assembled and prepared to deploy where hazards or closures of roadways occur.
John Niezman, a DOFAW invasive species technician said, “During my time with DOFAW, along Polipoli Spring Road, this is the worst damage I’ve seen with so many trees down and a lot of culverts blocked.”
As of 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 7, Hawaiian Electric crews are responding to a new outage affecting Pukalani to East Maui and parts of Makawao and Haʻikū in addition to the existing outages in parts of Kula, Wailuku, and Lahaina.