Kalihi Valley residents were warned Saturday not to stay in their homes. They live in the area where several boulders came crashing down Thursday night. It looks like several more large rocks are on the brink of falling.
The remaining boulders are on private property. The cost for the property owners to remove the rocks is pricey, so until further notice residents have been told to enter their homes at their own risk.
The Honolulu Department of Emergency Management canvassed the neighborhood along Kula Kolea Place, in Kalihi Valley.
"Make them aware we still have an existing hazard up here," said John Cummings, of HDEM.
He was warning residents that the rock fall that happened earlier in the week could happen again.
John Maemori got notice to leave or remain at his own risk.
On Thursday night a boulder on the ridge behind his home tore through his house. A giant piece of rock landed in his kitchen.
"We pulled up the refrigerators, say ‘oh what is this one’," Maemori said.
Family and friends continued to clean up the mess on Saturday. "I got up at 6:30 this morning started, haven’t stopped yet," he said.
In the meantime, the state held a closed door meeting with home owners, alerting them that two more boulders on the mountainside as large as four feet in diameter and several large rocks have the potential to fall in the near future.
Peter Hirai, of HDEM, said "the land owner is a church along with a couple from Maui – the Hacintos."
"Because it’s on private property the city nor the state is responsible for that and will not be paying for the consultant," he said.
That means the private land owners will have to pay upwards of $200,000 dollars to stabilize and/or remove the rocks and boulders. Residents want to know when, since the landowners have said they may not be able to foot the bill.
"They need to do something about it," said Kalihi Valley resident Cathy Cachola, "and secure it and they need to do it faster than a month or five months down the line, yeah."
Maemori says either way, he’s not going anywhere. "I’m gonna stay if it comes – it comes, pray for us."
Officials say a deal may be worked out with the landowner to get the rock removal done sooner rather than later.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
