KIHEI, HAWAII (KHON2) — Kihei Kai condos in South Maui suffered major damage from the heavy rains and flooding that hit the area Thursday night into Friday morning.
A portion of one of the buildings, located closest to the ocean, buckled and dropped about five feet to the ground prompting evacuations.
Kihei Kai consists of two buildings, two stories each. Four units were severely damaged when heavy rains and flooding slammed into the property.
Around 3 a.m. Friday, some of the residents started hearing creaking and cracking sounds and evacuated the building.
“That speed and volume of water that moved across the property caused the movement of a great deal of earth under one of our buildings, and undermined the foundation, cut through that dirt under the foundation to a tune of about six feet, and dug out our entire beachfront and caused the collapse of the front corner of that property,” explained Kihei Kai Homeowners Association President Mike Conners.
He said three of the four damaged units were occupied when the property fell to the ground.
He said one couple couldn’t open their door and had to assist them out in the early morning hours.
“They had to climb out a window, and the window isn’t above the stairway, so they had to climb out a window and shimmy to a stairway to climb down from their unit,” Conners said. “So, major safety challenge and issues could have resulted in severe injury or loss of life.”
He said there was about five feet of water across the property and he’s never seen it this bad before.
Conners believes the nearby bridge blocks the water from entering the ocean because there’s too much debris coming down the mountain.
One of the decade-old condo owners was shocked to see what happened to him and his wife’s dream retirement condo.
“I’m still pretty numb and in shock,” said resident Tom Sabo. “I’m not even sure which way to go. It’s, it’s just so much, it’s just bing, you know, it’s, it’s destroyed somehow.”
The couple is on fixed income and has been told insurance won’t cover and is now being told their unit along with three others might have to be demolished.
“What are we going to do with this mortgage if we don’t have property that we’re paying a mortgage off of?” he asked.
He remembered the flood in December 2021 and said it was nothing compared to this.
“My contractor agreed that the water was somehow directed down directly to underneath the structure, and took out all the the foundation,” Sabo said. He described his unit as falling into a sinkhole.
Some Kihei residents have noted a new flood device protecting a nearby property. KHON2 reached out to the county for more information regarding the structure and will follow up once we know more.