41 Days of Torrential Rain Leave Hawaii Drenched, Flooded and Covered With Mud

The good news is that it seems the weather in Hawaii has finally taken a turn for the better with the return of the trade winds. The rains that have pounded the islands for six weeks are finally moving out to sea. The bad news is that the islands have suffered from 41 days of rain all of which began on February 19 and culminated Friday, March 31 with a downpour that, quite simply, pushed Oahu over the edge. Torrential rain caused severe flooding and property damage at the Kahala Mall and numerous mud slides and flooded roads and neighborhoods throughout the island.

Over those 41 days the islands of Hawaii saw flash floods, landslides, mudslides and a dam break on Kauai that killed seven people, four of whom are still missing. Nearly 92 inches of rain were recorded during March on Kauai's Mount Waialeale, considered one of the rainiest spots on the planet. The previous record was 90 inches in April 1971, according to the National Weather Service. Honolulu Airport has recorded more rain so far in 2006 than in all of 2005.

The Honolulu Star Bulletin reports that while visitor arrives has remained steady throughout the bad weather, numerous tourist related activity providers are suffering from lack of business. Our Lost expert, Ryan Ozawa reports that production on the final three episodes of the 2005-2006 season are behind schedule and three film crews are being used to ensure that production gets back on schedule.