LAIE, Hawaii -- Firefighters haven't been able to keep up with all of the calls they have been getting about flooded conditions from Laie to Kahuluu.

The saturated lands were refusing to absorb more water. Neighbors said clogged streams are not draining, adding to the problem.

"It's getting worse and worse," Laie resident Roger Heffernan said.

Residents along Kamehameha Highway tried to save their homes from the rising floodwaters.

"I'm hoping it doesn't get above our window; then we'll really have serious problems with that," Laie resident Pablo Buckingham said.

One room of Buckingham's home was already under water, and the rains kept coming.

"We have a lower addition at ground level, so we already have a foot and a half. Our main level -- we hope it doesn't go above that," Buckingham said.

At about 7 a.m., residents in Laie noticed water rising toward their homes. That's when they rushed out and got sandbags and stacked them around their homes. By 8:30 a.m., the water was rising so fast it was already in their homes.

The Heffernan family resorted to bailing water out of their home with buckets.

"We sort of panicked because we wanted to get all of our computers up off our washer and dryer propped up," Heffernan said.

The family members said sandbags worked at the doors, but water continued to enter from underneath the house. Each time the water rose to a step on their stairs inside the home, they start bailing again with 5-gallon buckets.

"We're just trying to make things a little better. We know it's not going to help, but we don't want it to get worse," Heffernan's wife, Gail, said.

Flooding kept Oahu Civil Defense busy all day with efforts to keep damage and injuries to a minimum. Officials monitored the rainfall and flooding from Civil Defense Headquarters in the basement of the Municipal Building.

From early morning, they were on the alert.

''It's been very busy for all of us in Civil Defense and for police, fire and (Emergency Medical Services). (We had) multiple roadblocks and closures along the Windward shoreline due to ponding and flooding. We've had quite a few water evacuations that the fire department has been assisting with. The police department also has been backing them up and going into areas in Punaluu and Hauula to investigate further incidents of flooding. We've got about a dozen volunteers in the area working with police, fire and EMS," said John Cummings, of Oahu Civil Defense.

Farms in the Kahuku area got a heavy soaking, raising the possibility that some crops in the area will be in short supply.