Hilo businesses begin cleanup process after rain pummels Hawaii Island

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Businesses in Hilo are now beginning the cleanup process after Friday’s rain battered Hawaii Island.

It was 90 minutes of downpour in Hilo Friday afternoon

The store Simply Sisters, located on Kamehameha Avenue, watched as water seeped into the store.

“It started flooding throughout all of downtown and throughout all the shops, so our shop actually got flooded, and so it was just me and three other girls at the time, so we had to move everything out of the window because it started to leak and we had to try and clean up the water and stop the water from coming in,” Makanoe Lagua of Simply Sisters said.

With no sandbags on hand, they had to improvise.

“We used bubble wrap until the sandbags could come later, actually, but we did the best that we could,” Makanoe Lagua said.

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“When the county or the mayor says be prepared, we really do need to be prepared, and this is a learning experience for us as well about having maybe our own sandbags and being more mindful,” Manager of Simply Sisters Brenda Kenui said.

“It happened really quick because I just got off the phone with her and was like, we’re gonna close up, and I said, OK, just close up, and next thing you know, I’m getting this video. I’m like, oh my gosh, I gotta get down there.”

Because of their quick thinking, none of the merchandise was damaged, and they were still able to hold their Mother’s Day sale Saturday morning.

“We also have some hula and entertainment going on as part of our Mother’s Day weekend, so we have a lot going on, a lot of specials, 30% of the bags, buy one get one half BOGO sale,” Brenda Kenui said.

A few stores down Bayfront, a longtime surf shop owner Stan Lawrence of Orchid Land Surf Shop says his experience from past storms came in handy Friday.

“I’ve been through this before: the flood of 2000. Yesterday’s storm was like a two-hour storm; the flood of 2000 was a 12-hour storm, and it was thunder and lightning all night. I happened to be down here, and I was picking all of my low stuff near the floor; I had mountains of merchandise stacked up,” Stan Lawrence said.

Meanwhile, The Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency says cleanup and damage assessment began today.

“We know some of the businesses or quite a bit of the businesses in Hilo probably had water damage from the eyewitness accounts that we had as far as what was happening down there; we know water got into a bunch of businesses, and then yesterday afternoon, we were taking quite a bit bunch of calls for people asking for sandbags so we’ll follow up with those people to see what kind of damage they had,” Talmadge Magno an Administrator of Hawaii County Civil Defence Agency said.

To report damage, fill out this assessment form on the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency website or call (808) 935-0031.

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