“What we have decided to do is shut down the beaches, from the Kapahulu groin all the way to Point Panic”, said Lori Kahikina, director of the city’s Department of Environmental Services.
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Still, dozens of tourists waded into the water, and young parents carried their toddlers into the ocean, ignoring the warning signs about unsafe water.
Waikiki is home to many of Hawaii’s biggest hotels and is the backbone of its tourism-dependent economy.
To a certain extent the problem was caused by the locals who tried opening manholes to redirect upcoming storm water into sewage system to prevent homes and cars from flooding. “With the heavy rains, it overwhelmed our system”.
The epicenter of the spill was at the Ala Moana Beach Park at the edge of Waikiki, where sewage poured out from manholes on the street right in front of a shopping mall. “I don’t think a little particle is going to hurt me”. This year’s hurricane season has been particularly active; the season lasts through November.
Another spokesperson for the Department of Environmental Services, Shayne Enright, also commented on the spill. “It’s an above-average year already, and we’re still just in August”, he added.
The famous beach was closed on Monday because of the overflowed sewage system linked to Tropical Storm Kilo, according to the Huffington Post. Six of those storms reached super-typhoon status, which means they had maximum sustained winds over 150 miles per hour.
“The reason for the forecast of an above-average tropical season in the Pacific this year is El Niño conditions”, Chevalier said in an email. “You could get a serious infection, get extremely sick or even worse”, she said. That disaster led to temporary closure of beaches in the area.
The disaster brings to mind a 2006 sewage spill that occurred in Honolulu, where close to 189 million litres of sewage were dumped into Waikiki’s Ala Wai Canal.
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City officials are urging residents and visitors to keep out of the water in Waikiki Beach, stating a lot of the contaminated water has escaped into nearby storm drains and into the ocean.
