The recent Kona storm in Hawaii delivered a devastating blow to the islands, bringing torrential rain, flooding, and landslides. While the storm didn’t replicate the fantastical imagery of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz – where a tornado lifts a house into the sky – a harrowing incident in Iao Valley, West Maui, saw a home ripped from its foundation and carried away by the surging waters. The event, captured on video, serves as a stark reminder of the raw power of nature and the vulnerability of communities facing extreme weather events.
The dramatic scene unfolded as heavy winds and relentless rainfall overwhelmed the area. Todd Bradshaw, the homeowner, described the moments leading up to the loss of his home. “When we lost the mango and monkey pod, we started throwing stuff in bags and packing up,” Bradshaw said. “Half an hour, 45 minutes later, the river had come all the way up to the edge of the deck of the house, the back deck, which was about 60 feet straight down.”
Bradshaw continued, recounting the moment his home was swept away: “I just went in and grabbed the last thing inside the garage and about two minutes later, we heard the cracking. I held my phone up and videotaped it and it just went boom, right into the water.” The video, quickly circulating online, shows the house being lifted and carried downstream, a chilling visual of the storm’s destructive force.
