Latest / Best of: Features / Kauai man fought for his life during hours-long ordeal as river swept away home

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Kauai man fought for his life during hours-long ordeal as river swept away home · Best of: Features

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  Kawhi man fought for his life during hours long ordeal as River
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  swept away home. Written by Christine Hitt. This article is being
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  read by an automated voice, generated by Everlet. When Hurricane Lowell moved
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  past Kawaii the night of september seventh, it left a path of
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  destruction. Across the island, homes and businesses were flooded and damaged, debris
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  and flooding made roads impassable, and electricity was knocked out for tens
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  of thousands of residents. On the North Shore in Waneha, just past
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  Ast Hanalei, the Waneha River became especially dangerous as it rose dramatically,
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  causing significant flooding. The river's flow almost doubled in less than two
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  hours, from about fifty one thousand gallons per second at seven PM
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  to nearly ninety thousand gallons per second by eight fifty PM Hawaii
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  time, a US geological survey gauge recorded. For forty seven year old
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  Winehaw resident Trent Park, whose property bordered the Winehaw River, the night
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  became an eight hour fight to stay alive. I was just thinking,
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  I'm going to live. I'm going to figure it out, Parks told
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  S. F. Gate over the phone. I was thinking, you know, I'm
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  going to figure it out. Park had been preparing his property days
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  before Lowell arrived, moving what he could to higher ground so it
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  wouldn't flood. On september seventh, Kawhi County emergency officials sent out an
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  alert encouraging voluntary evacuation for residents in Oceanfront properties. No other evacuation
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  notices were sent. Park's property borders the river but is not on
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  the ocean. Still, he never planned to stay through the storm. Before
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  dark he parked his truck on higher ground and went to shut
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  down his off grid power system, which he had forgotten to turn
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  off. He had pulled on a wetsuit top and tucked his phone
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  and keys into a plastic bag beneath it before starting back to
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  his truck around seven thirty PM. That was when the river suddenly
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  surged. I was walking on the far side of my property to
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  get out, and it was just like about a three foot difference
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  of water, he said. At that point I had to swim back
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  to my house, because it was the only way to go. Park
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  swam back to his house and climbed over Then
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  railing onto the deck, about eight feet above the ground, hoping the
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  water would recede enough for him to escape. Instead it continued rising.
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  He climbed higher, eventually reaching the roof of the deck, roughly sixteen
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  feet above ground, as massive trees from upstream began rushing past him
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  in the flood waters. Then pieces of his property began breaking away.
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  He watched the raging water rip the staircase off his deck, followed
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  by his tool shed. I know at this point I am going
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  to be diving in for a swim soon. I am now looking
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  down at my art studio. Water just keeps rising faster and faster,
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  he said. Soon his art studio, a separate structure, broke loose, carried
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  away by the river. Massive trees and logs piled up against his
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  home beneath him, and he could see more coming. Looking for somewhere
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  he could reach if the structure gave way, Park focused on a
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  thick group of how bush on higher ground. Howe is a tree
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  that spreads horizontally, creating a dense thicket, and can grow to a
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  height of thirteen to thirty three feet. Then, two trees slammed into
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  the
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  house and it began to break loose, Park jumped into the raging
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  river in the dark. When I hit the water I knew I
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  had to swim as hard as I could in any chance to
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  hit that section of Howbush. In a blur I was there and
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  I got a hold of one of the thicker branches, he said.
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  By then he said he
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  was carried into a neighbor's property. From the how he watched the
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  house he had built float past him. As the water continued to
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  rise, the how around him began to break loose. Park was forced
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  back into the river. The current swept him downstream, where a log
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  struck him in the back and head, casting him underwater. When he
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  surfaced, Park said he was disoriented, but was able to grab onto
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  another how branch and climb up the tree. Once he was in
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  a relatively stable place among the branches, he realized his best chance
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  for survival was to stay where he was. I knew it was
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  early in the night. And the worst of the storm was hours
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  away. The tide is rising till one thirty AM, and the peak
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  of the storm was about three AM. I had to wait until
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  daylight light to actually be able to see. It was about ten
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  PM at this point it was going to be a long night,
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  Park later told S F Gate in an email. He remained there
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  until four AM, engulfed in darkness amid the chaos of wind and
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  rain. The river rushed past him, while trees continued to fly by
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  throughout the night. At times half his body was submerged, and he
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  fought hypothermia by moving as much as he could to keep the
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  blood flowing. It was a complete mental game of thoughts for hours,
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  he said. I just kept thinking I can't go like this. There
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  was no cell service, so he couldn't call for help. He took
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  comfort from a few faint lights in the distance that he
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  called lights of hope until they faded. Then he tried, as he
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  put It to remove yourself from the situation mentally. At around four
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  AM, Park made a break for land, jumping back into the overflowing
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  river. He managed to grab the bank and pull himself onto the
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  road, where he said. He ran into four other people who had
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  escaped deep water on the other side of a bridge. He used
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  this cell phone light to help them reach safety. When he reached
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  his truck he found it had flooded, but the water had receded
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  enough for him to climb inside and sleep. When he woke around
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  seven thirty AM he walked back to his property and found his
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  home. It had landed about thirty to fifty yards downstream onto another
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  property. The flood had also left piles of trees and logs. I
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  didn't think I was going to live through the whole thing with
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  all the decisions I had to make, Parke said And you know
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  when I got down there and I saw like the dam of
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  logs and how much I mean, this pile of logs is like
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  fifteen to twenty feet high, like I looked at it. Nobody lives
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  through that. I've had a really hard time with that. Days later,
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  authorities are still assessing the toll in Wainiha. On september eleventh, the
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  body of a fifty nine year old man was found near the
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  area of severe flooding. The Kauai Police Department said an autopsy is
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  still pending. Now seven days since Lowell passed Kawai, the recovery is
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  only beginning. Some parts of the North Shore continue to be without
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  power as of Sunday. For now, Park said much of his attention
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  is on helping other people in Waineha. He has been clearing debris,
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  chainsawing logs, and helping neighbors with cleanup. My plan, like my plans
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  right now, is just help everybody I can out there with others,
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  he said. When I get around to my stuff, you know, just
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  try to do what I can. A friend also created a GoFundMe
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  for Park, who said he lost virtually everything on his property, to
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  help with shelter, basic necessities, and rebuilding. But the damage extended throughout
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  the Wainiha community. Papa Moku and Nancy Chandler say their home was
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  flooded and badly damaged, and is no longer livable, leaving them facing
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  cleaning, repairs, and replacement of belongings. Another fundraiser says a Wainiha family
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  lost belongings when their home flooded. Meanwhile, Park is also still processing
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  what he survived. I don't know why I survived the night, have
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  been struck with why I did. I feel remorse knowing some did
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  not, Park told S. F. Gate in an email. Moving forward I
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  am a forever changed person.