The monstrous waves hit the south-facing coasts of the Hawaiian Islands over the weekend amid a wave that the National Weather Service described as “historic.” The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources, which closed several state-owned beach parks along the south-facing coasts, said it was the largest swell in more than a decade with waves of up to 24 feet.
The Honolulu announcer reported that there were thousands of ocean rescues over the weekend.
Dangerous waves are expected to persist through Monday with some low-lying areas of the islands likely flooded by water, the weather service said.
Water crashed Saturday on the rooftops of condominium complexes in Keauhou, Hawaii.
“The current and waves got really big between 4 and 5 in the afternoon and didn’t calm down until 10:45 p.m.,” Isabella Sloan told Hawaii News Now. “My condo was hit for the first time and it flooded everything. Condominiums along the way. Mine were completely erased and badly damaged. Fortunately, everyone is safe.”
Also on the island of Hawaii on Saturday, a wave passed by a wedding reception at Kailua-Kona’s Hulihe’e Palace. The dance floor was destroyed, but the cake survived and the wedding party and guests were not injured.
“And we were more or less right at the time we were going to start moving a couple of things and, yeah, basically that big wall came up,” boyfriend Dillon Murphy told KHON. “And luckily there was no food in any of the containers, luckily the cake did.”
Wave deleted a wedding in Hawaii over the weekend 😳 pic.twitter.com/HDZXq8H5km
– Wu-Tang is for children (@WUTangKids) July 18, 2022
The big wave is expected to slowly subside until Wednesday, the weather service said.
“Surfing agitated for a short period will remain a bit high over the next few days due to trade winds and against the state wind,” the weather service said. “Some longer-period energy from tropical cyclone Estelle in the Far Eastern Pacific may affect the east-facing coasts from Thursday night to Saturday. No other major waves are expected.”