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Rain eases in parts of Hawaii after Kona Low storm lashes state

The storm dumped more than a foot of rain in some areas, caused flooding and downed trees and power lines. Parts of downtown Honolulu lost power.
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Flood watches for Honolulu and the rest of Oahu were canceled Tuesday, but not before a slow-moving storm dumped more than a foot of rain on parts of Hawaii, flooding some areas and prompting rescues, officials said.

No deaths have been reported from the Kona Low storm, which dumped more than 12 inches on parts of Hawaii’s Big Island and Maui.

But the storm caused flooding, downed trees and power outages. Gov. David Ige issued an emergency declaration Monday, allowing for aid.

A flood watch remained for the islands of Kauai and Niihau, to the west of Oahu, until 6 a.m. Wednesday.

“The damage is substantial,” Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino said Monday night, adding that the south part of the island was especially hard hit by flooding.

The Honolulu Fire Department on Monday afternoon rescued five boys, all 9 and 10 years old, from a rushing stream, the department said.

Firefighters responded to 90 calls about the weather on Oahu, including 55 about flooded houses, three about swift-water rescues and two about people who were pulled from vehicles trapped by high water, the fire department said.

Around 9 inches of rain fell in some parts of Oahu over 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Honolulu's airport got almost 8 inches of rain Monday.

Roads in Maui County were covered in mud, and a landslide struck a home in Oahu, NBC affiliate KHNL of Honolulu reported.

Power was knocked out in much of downtown Honolulu, and full restoration wasn’t likely until Wednesday morning, the utility Hawaii Electric said.

A substation and underground vaults flooded overnight, and when the water was pumped out, crews discovered that around 300 feet of high-voltage cable was damaged, the utility said in a statement.

A remaining flood watch for Oahu was canceled Tuesday afternoon, National Weather Service meteorologist Vanessa Almanza said.

The weather system responsible for all that rain is a Kona Low, a seasonal cyclone that pulls deep tropical moisture over Hawaii.

It prompted a blizzard warning for Hawaii’s tallest and second-tallest peaks, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, both of which are over 13,500 feet.