The Latest: Honolulu official: The dam will not fail

HONOLULU – The last on the tropical depression and its impact on Hawaii (all local times):

1:45 p.m.

Officials in Honolulu claim that a dam where the waters have risen rapidly during a tropical storm is not likely to fail.

Ernie Lau, chief mechanic of the Water Supply Council, said on Thursday that the dam was "not close" to the breakup.

But he says the water in the reservoir has risen nearly 1.5 meters (4 to 5 feet) overnight during heavy rain from Tropical Storm Olivia.

City officials are asking residents of Nuuanu No. 1 Dam (Noo-OO-ah-noo) to pay attention to the possibility that they must evacuate.

A spillway could be used to release water from the dam, but this would cause flooding downstream.

The water level is now 46 centimeters below the weir.

The agents and firefighters of the Agency siphon the water of the dam and pump it.

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11:45

Honolulu officials are asking residents near a dam to remain vigilant about the possibility of evacuating as the water levels in the reservoir increase due to heavy rains.

City spokesman Andrew Pereira said on Thursday that the rain seems to be falling, but the city is taking a cautious approach and is asking residents to remain vigilant.

The city's water supply board said 10,000 people may have to be evacuated near Nuuanu No.1 dam (Noo-OO-ah-noo).

The agency says it siphers and pumps the water to keep it under the weir.

Tropical storm Olivia dumped heavy rains Wednesday on Maui and Oahu as she was crossing the state.

Meteorologists say that it is now a tropical depression that is moving away from the islands, but the humidity will persist.

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10:30

Honolulu officials say they may have to evacuate 10,000 people from a residential area if the water in a reservoir continues to rise after heavy rains from a rainy day. tropical storm.

Olivia crossed the state on Wednesday, pouring heavy rains on Maui and Oahu. Meteorologists say that it is now a tropical depression that is moving away from the western islands.

The city's Water Supply Council announced Thursday that the water level of Nuuanu Dam 1 (Noo-OO-ah-noo) is about 46 centimeters below the spillway.

The agency says it siphers excess water to keep water under the spillway, but Olivia's rains have exceeded its siphoning capacity.

The water service and the fire department pump water from the dam to lower the levels.

The agency says it will coordinate any evacuation notification with the city.

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10:15

Tropical storm rains Olivia caused the overflow of a sewer line in Honolulu, sending over 30,000 gallons (113,000 liters) of raw sewage into a creek and a port.

Olivia crossed the state on Wednesday, pouring heavy rains on Maui and Oahu. Meteorologists say that it is now a tropical depression that is moving away from the western islands.

The city's environmental services department said on Thursday that the workers had noticed the overflow at 10:40 pm. the night before. They stopped unloading just before dawn.

The rains flooded a 91-centimeter pipe on North School Street. This pushed more than 32,000 gallons (121,000 liters) of wastewater from a manhole. Workers were able to recover nearly 3,000 liters (800 gallons), but the rest was dumped into a storm sewer that feeds Kapalama Creek and Honolulu Harbor.

The city has disinfected the area.

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5:30 p.m.

Officials say tropical storm Olivia has been downgraded to a tropical depression as it moves away from Hawaii.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center said in a statement on Thursday that the depression would produce additional precipitation of 8 to 13 centimeters and isolated amounts of 15 to 20 centimeters on higher ground.

The center says the rain could cause deadly flash floods because the soil is already saturated with water.

The tropical depression was moving from west to southwest at around 18 mph (30 km / h).

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12:20

Heavy rains and winds from a tropical storm have cut down trees, destroyed electricity and caused the evacuation of several homes on the island of Maui in Hawaii, but have spared the state of major damage before continuing to take to the sea.

Tropical Storm Olivia crossed the state on Wednesday and touched the Maui and Lanai Islands along the road.

Meteorologists warned that heavy rains would continue until Thursday but Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa said he hoped the effects of the storm would be limited.

The Central Pacific Hurricane Center said Olivia was more than 160 kilometers southwest of Honolulu on Wednesday night. It was moving west with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph (65 km / h), barely strong enough to qualify as a tropical storm.

The hurricane center said that Olivia was likely to further weaken and become a tropical depression by Thursday.