Weeks before the Kona low storms, Honolulu reported that it was canceling another long-stalled project to dredge a flood-prone North Shore stream.
The city owns the final stretch of a stream called Kaukonahua, and over the years, it had become clogged with islands of sediment and trees. The project was too expensive, the city said. Then the rains came in March, overwhelming the choked waterway and inundating nearby homes and farms.
Many residents just barely escaped as mud and water buried their homes and swept away their belongings. The disaster was likely preventable…