Dam break brings 'Niagara Falls' to Hawaii valley
CNN International
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Kilauea (Hawaii):
At least one person was killed and seven people were missing after a dam broke Tuesday morning on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, sending almost 500 million gallons of water down an island valley.
"Sounded like a 747 jet crashing here in the valley, all the trees popping and snapping and everything," resident John Hawthorne told The Associated Press. "It was just a horrendous sound, and it never quit."
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching the area around Kilauea Bay, on the northern side of the island, with helicopters, boats and airplanes. One body was recovered, according to a statement from the Coast Guard.
The break in the dam on Kilauea Stream was reported about 9:45 a.m. (2:45 p.m. ET), according to Lt. Cmdr. DesaRae Janszen, a spokesman for the Coast Guard.
Kauai was under a flash flood watch because of heavy rain when the dam broke. In the past two days, 2 to 8 inches of rain have fallen across the island, with as much as 17 inches in higher elevations.
Ed Teixeira, state vice director of civil defense, said in Honolulu that officials were worried about more problems as they checked other dams on the island.
Mar 15, 2006
CNN International
_____________
Kilauea (Hawaii):
At least one person was killed and seven people were missing after a dam broke Tuesday morning on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, sending almost 500 million gallons of water down an island valley.
"Sounded like a 747 jet crashing here in the valley, all the trees popping and snapping and everything," resident John Hawthorne told The Associated Press. "It was just a horrendous sound, and it never quit."
The U.S. Coast Guard is searching the area around Kilauea Bay, on the northern side of the island, with helicopters, boats and airplanes. One body was recovered, according to a statement from the Coast Guard.
The break in the dam on Kilauea Stream was reported about 9:45 a.m. (2:45 p.m. ET), according to Lt. Cmdr. DesaRae Janszen, a spokesman for the Coast Guard.
Kauai was under a flash flood watch because of heavy rain when the dam broke. In the past two days, 2 to 8 inches of rain have fallen across the island, with as much as 17 inches in higher elevations.
Ed Teixeira, state vice director of civil defense, said in Honolulu that officials were worried about more problems as they checked other dams on the island.
Mar 15, 2006
