Massive Sewage Spill Shuts Famous Hawaii Beach

Ms Kahikina said witnesses reported people were opening manhole covers to let the storm water drain into the sewage system, which was unable to cope with the volume of water.

The city says people need to realize that the storm drain system is separate from the sewage system and allowing rain water to flow into the manholes causes the sewage system to back up.

The city has advised people to avoid a four-mile stretch of waterfront between Kapahulu Avenue in Waikiki to Point Panic in Kakaako following the spill.

Wastewater flooded from manholes on Ala Moana Boulevard, a major east-west highway along the coast, after tropical depression Kilo dumped rain in the area.

Steve Casar of the Waikiki Yacht Club said the contaminated water came close to flowing onto club property this morning before subsiding.

Waikiki is home to numerous state’s biggest hotels and is the engine of Hawaii’s tourism-dependent economy. A spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Emergency Services cautions that the ocean is risky .

“You could get a serious infection, get extremely sick or even worse”.

Kilo, with maximum sustained winds of 35 miles per hour (56 kmh), turned away from the Hawaiian islands and on Monday was moving north-northwest on a path across the central Pacific that was expected to take it past uninhabited Johnston Atoll and farther away from any populated island, forecasts indicate.

Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s office said several city facilities, including the Honolulu Zoo, were closed because of flooding.

City officials were posting warning signs and police officers and lifeguards were at the beach to warn visitors and residents about the contamination.