Major rains pummeled the area for the second major rain event in a week.

Muddy floodwaters from severe rains inundated streets, pushed homes off their foundations, swallowed vehicles and prompted evacuation orders for thousands of residents in towns north of Honolulu on Friday as officials warned of the possible failure of a 120-year-old dam.

Emergency sirens blared along Oahu's North Shore, where rising waters damaged homes in a community world-renowned for its surfing. Honolulu officials told residents at 5:35 a.m. Friday to leave the area downstream of Wahiawa dam, saying it was "at risk of imminent failure."

There were no immediate reports of deaths or injuries, but firefighters and lifeguards on jet skis were searching flood waters for people who had been stranded, said Ian Scheuring, a spokesperson for Honolulu.

"We do have reports of homes being swept away," he said. But the agency doesn't know how many. The evacuation order asked fleeing residents to carpool because of heavy traffic.

Officials have been watching dam levels since a storm last week dumped heavy rain across the state, which led to catastrophic flooding that washed away roads and homes. After the worst of it, a similar but weaker storm was forecast to bring more rain through this weekend.

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said in a social media post that the Hawaii National Guard has been activated to respond to the flooding. "The storm of course is very severe right now, particularly on the northern part of Oahu," he said, describing chest-high flood waters. "It's going to be a very touch-and-go day."

Most of the state was under a flood watch, with northern Oahu under a flash flood warning, according to the National Weather Service, which reported "widespread life-threatening flash flooding" that's "extremely dangerous" particularly in Haleiwa and Waialua.

One shelter at Waialua High and Intermediate School is being evacuated because of flooding, Scheuring said. There were about 185 people and 50 pets who had sought shelter there but are being bussed to another evacuation center.

"With how saturated everything was from last weekend, it didn't take much and we got a lot," he said, noting that there were 8 inches to 12 inches (20 to 30 cm) of rain in some parts of north Oahu overnight.

Source: Drudge Report