After catastrophic flooding to Oʻahu’s North Shore over the weekend, the City and County of Honolulu is urging the public not to travel to storm-affected areas in Waialua and Haleʻiwa except for residents, authorized workers, emergency personnel or people involved in recovery efforts.
These areas are work zones. Individuals traveling to impacted areas to observe damage can create more dangerous conditions and slow emergency and cleanup operations. Unnecessary travel causes traffic congestion and safety hazards for emergency responders, repair crews and utility workers trying to restore services and stabilize impacted communities.
The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is asking drivers to avoid Kaukonahua Road and the Otake Camp area in Waialua for the week of March 23 as storm cleanup operations continue. HPD offers are deployed in the area to provide traffic control and security in support of recovery efforts.
“We understand that visitors to the island are concerned and want to see what happened, but these areas are still hazardous and remain active work zones,” Honolulu Police Department Interim Chief Rade K. Vanic said in a news statement. “Additional traffic makes it harder for emergency crews to do their jobs and puts both workers and the public at risk. We are asking the public to pelase stay away unless you live or work in the area or involved in active recovery efforts.”
Mayor Rick Blangiardi also urged the public to avoid impacted areas. He said, “Our emergency crews and city teams are working around the clock to respond and recover from this storm. The public can help by staying out of impacted areas and allowing crews to do their jobs safely and without additional congestion or delays.”
