Man on kayak rescued from waters off Oahu’s North Shore ADVERTISING Man on kayak rescued from waters off Oahu’s North Shore HONOLULU (AP) — The Honolulu Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard rescued a man on a kayak from waters
Man on kayak rescued from waters off Oahu’s North Shore
HONOLULU (AP) — The Honolulu Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard rescued a man on a kayak from waters off Oahu’s North Shore before sunrise Wednesday.
HFD spokesman Capt. David Jenkins said the Coast Guard called the Fire Department after the 52-year-old man reported his kayak was swamped and overturned.
The Coast Guard dispatched a rescue helicopter and sent a rescue swimmer to the man, who was about 400 yards offshore. But he didn’t want to leave his kayak behind, so the Fire Department sent two more rescue swimmers by boat.
They swam with the man and brought him back to shore at 5:52 a.m. Jenkins said the kayaker was not injured.
Group says Honolulu rail at risk of flood damage
HONOLULU (AP) — A group of residents is prepared to take Honolulu officials to court for the city’s multibillion-dollar rail project because of concerns the rail could be vulnerable to flood damage.
The group, called Do Rail Right, says in a letter to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation that long stretches of the rail being built on Oahu’s flood plain are susceptible to damage from tsunamis, storm surges and rising sea levels.
Rail officials have not done enough to address flood risks or comply with federal flood-risk standards, the group claims.
“These failures are shocking,” Do Rail Right attorney John Carroll, a former state senator, says in the letter to HART board Chairwoman Colleen Hanabusa.
Carroll said he planned to send Hanabusa another letter next week giving HART seven days to agree to address the flooding concerns with a new supplemental environmental impact statement. If HART does not agree to revisit its previous studies, Do Rail Right says it plans to take the rail agency to federal court.
A HART spokesman said in an email Monday that the rail agency fully complied with federal law and the National Flood Insurance Program.
Do Rail Right said HART will need to move the elevated transit line’s route from the low-lying areas between Pearl City and Kakaako inland. The group suggests officials also consider running the rail through Salt Lake instead of by the airport.
