Worst Hawaii flooding in 20 years leaves some homes in mud as recovery begins: “We lost everything”

O’ahu resident Melanie Lee saw what’s left of her house for the first time on Monday after the worst flooding Hawaii has seen in two decades turned parts of the islands’ emerald communities into mud. 

“We’ve been here almost 20 years. I lost … We lost everything,” Lee told CBS News. “My children’s pictures. Just real sentimental stuff. Now it’s like, now where we go from here?” 

Hawaii is just beginning the recovery from a pair of massive storms that unleashed up to 4 feet of rain in parts of O’ahu and Maui over the past week, Gov. Josh Green said.

The latest storm prompted evacuation orders north of Honolulu, where officials said more than 200 people were rescued. In northern O’ahu, members of the National Guard trudged through waist-deep water to help stranded drivers and mudbound homeowners. More than 2,000 people were without power over the weekend. 

The island of Maui was also hit hard. The storm blasted down riverbeds, blew out bridges and roads and swallowed vehicles. 

Officials haven’t been able to assess the destruction fully but the cost of the storm could top $1 billion, including damage to airports, schools, roads, people’s homes and a Maui hospital in Kula, Green said.

“This is going to have a very serious consequence for us as a state,” the governor said during a news conference. He also said his chief of staff spoke to the White House and received assurances of federal support.

Among those displaced is Honolulu-born actor Jason Momoa. In a video posted to Instagram, the “Aquaman” actor said he and his family left the North Shore and the power had gone out.

“We’re safe now, but there’s a lot of people who weren’t, so sending all our love,” Momoa said.

Carol Philips, the vice president of North Shore Chamber of Commerce, described one house where eight people were living as just “gone.”

While no one was killed in the storms and flooding, and the worst of the storms has passed, the damage and recovery are both financially and emotionally costly.

As the communities in Maui continue to rebuild their homes and their lives two years after the wildfires killed 102 people, the flooding added to the sorrow.

“We know for so many people the fires are one thing, and now to have flooding and in some cases their homes that they had just moved into … It can feel overwhelming,” said U.S. Rep. Jill Tokuda, who represents parts of O’ahu.