Landslide Isolates HanaMudslide Covers Highway 360; No Injuries ReportedPOSTED: 2:25 am HST March 22,
2009 HANA, Hawaii -- A major landslide closed off the road to Hana for most of the day Saturday.The highway was blocked on Highway 360 just past Keanae, about 20 miles from the Hana Hotel.Tourists came across the blocked highway and weren't sure who to alert, so they notified a local resident."It's at mile marker 21. There is a park in the area called Puakaa Park and it's about two miles on the Keanae side of that park and it was a mudslide that was first reported around 9:30 this morning," Maui County spokeswoman Mahina Martin said in a telephone interview.Tourists heading to the Hotel Hana were blocked for several hours until work crews could clear the roadway.The county said the area hadn't been identified as a potential slide-problem area, but the wet weather in the last few weeks may have saturated the soil.Residents said that just recently a downed tree blocked access on the highway for several hours until the debris was cleared.No one was injured in Saturday's slide.The landslide inconvenienced motorists who weren't sure how long it would take to get road crews on scene.But access to Hana wasn't completely cut off."The way you would get into Hana is the eastern side, which is by Kaupo, by the southern part of Halaakala. So you can still get into Hana by the Kaupo way," Martin said.By about 3 p.m., the highway was cleared and visitors and residents could finally get through to the scenic town. State highway crews planned to assess if there was any other danger of any more of the hillside coming down. Copyright 2009 by KITV.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |







