Monster waves battered the south-facing shores of the Hawaiian Islands over the weekend in the middle of a swell United States National Weather Service described as “historic”.
The Hawaii Department of Lands and Natural Resources, which has closed several state beach parks on south-facing shorelines, said it was the biggest swell in more than a decade with waves of up to 7 meters.
the local newspaper Honolulu Advertiser reported that there was thousands of rescues at sea over the weekend.
The dangerous waves are expected to persist until Monday and that some low-lying areas of the islands are inundated by water, the weather service said.
Water rushed over the rooftops of apartment complexes in Keauhouon the island of Hawaii, on Saturday, according to a video broadcast on social networks.
“The current and waves got really big around 4 or 5pm and didn’t die down until around 10:45pm.,” resident Isabella Sloan told Hawaii News Now. “My condo got hit the first time and everything was flooded. The condominiums below mine were completely leveled and severely damaged. Fortunately, everyone is safe.”
Also on the island of Hawaii, a wave swept a wedding reception at Kailua-Kona’s Hulihe’e Palace on Saturday. The dance floor was destroyed, but the wedding cake survived and the party was able to continue.
“And we were right around the time we were going to start moving a couple of things and, yeah, this big wall basically came up.”boyfriend Dillon Murphy told the outlet KHON. “And luckily there was no food in any of the containers, the cake luckily survived.”
The big swell is expected to slowly subside through Wednesday, the weather service said.
“Short period choppy surf will remain somewhat elevated for the next several days due to trade winds over and upwind of the state”, the weather service said. “Some longer-lived power from Tropical Cyclone Estelle in the far eastern Pacific could affect east-facing coastlines Thursday night through Saturday. No other significant storm surge is expected.”
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