Folks from Wai'anae to Windward O'ahu dug out and dried off yesterday following Thursday's cloudbursts that brought on some of the island's worst flooding in years.

The weather turned threatening again last night, when more than an inch of rain was recorded at the Waiawa Correctional Facility and the Kahuku Training Area from 5 to 8 p.m.

A flash flood warning was issued, as forecasters watched a large band of showers that blew into the Wai'anae coastline, hitting an area already saturated by Thursday's deluge that dumped up to 9 inches of rain in Wai'anae Valley.

"The main concern is that the ground is so saturated already from the previous day's rains that flooding can occur quickly," Kevin Kodama, National Weather Service hydrologist, said last night.

For the most part, officials reported some water ponding on roadways, said John Cummings, city Department of Emergency Management public information officer.

Flooding shut down Fort Weaver Road north-bound for more than an hour, while a stalled car choked the south-bound direction down to one lane.

The warning expired at 9:15 p.m.

A flash flood watch, a less serious advisory, remains in effect for all of O'ahu, plus Kaua'i and Ni'ihau, until 6 p.m. today.

Gov. Linda Lingle yesterday signed a state disaster proclamation for the counties of Honolulu, Kaua'i and Maui. That proclamation provides resources for relief that could include activation of the Hawai'i National Guard and loans for people with damaged homes and businesses, said the governor's office.

It was too soon to estimate the cost of damage across O'ahu, said city spokesman Bill Brennan, but the city, state Civil Defense and American Red Cross began that task yesterday.

The city set up a hot line for people to report property damage, Brennan said.

"We're asking residents to help us identify various types of damage and assistance that they might need, whether it's shelter or damage to homes and businesses, the need for debris removal, where there was utility outages, and where roads and bridges might be damaged," he said.

In Hale'iwa, one of the hardest-hit towns, Ron Slagle was leading the cleanup of the Tesoro gas station and mini-mart on Kamehameha Highway after it was flooded with eight inches of water and sewage.

Crews restored electricity at mid-morning yesterday and were working on the plumbing.

"We've got to gut it out and re-do the whole thing," said Slagle, a project manager for Tesoro. "We're taking everything out of the store, including all groceries, which were contaminated."

Counters and shelves would be ripped out, he said. A cleaning crew would power-wash and sanitize the entire property. It would all cost thousands of dollars, but Slagle had no idea how many thousands.

"It's a major cleanup and Tesoro has asked me to move 24/7 on this place and get it back in order as quickly as possible," said Slagle, who added that in 30 years in the business he'd never seen anything to equal the damage that washed through the station. "We're moving fast."

Not far away, at the K Brothers Ltd. auto repair station — where cars and pickups bobbed and banged each other during the peak of Thursday's flood — the pace was more leisurely.

Frances Hoapili, who has been a cashier there for 16 years, said the water rose so fast that she and other workers simply closed the bay doors and took off.

"We moved the equipment as best as we could, locked the doors and left," said Hoapili, as he used a power steamer to blast silt and debris from the walkway leading to the restrooms. "But as we were leaving, the water was flowing right beside the building — like that was the river."

Katherine and Gilbert Kawamata live behind the family-owned station that was started by his father in 1928. Katherine, 72, remembers the last time her home and station were flooded.

"In 1974 we had one like this," she said as she stood in the doorway of her home, which had been partially cleaned of mud and water by relatives and friends who started working right after the rain subsided.

"It was the same thing back then. And our building was just like it is now — and we had to clean everything up."

Her house was not structurally damaged, she said, and the business would be cleansed just as before.

"We'll keep on going," she said.

LINGERING IMPACT

The city said yesterday that Waimanalo and Bellows beach parks would remain closed until damage could be fully assessed by the Parks Department. The beach parks were closed because of tree damage caused by the storm's rain and wind.

On Wai'anae Valley's Pu'uhulu Road, Maile Vega tried to assess her losses from floodwaters that rushed through her home and washed away her belongings as she, her five children and a friend fled to higher ground.

"The house is leaning, so we can't even go back there now," said Vega, who is staying with a friend until she and her family can find a more permanent home. "The electricity is out. All the water lines are busted. The foundation is cracked."

Vega said a few of her belongings were retrieved acres away from the house. The home of neighbor Linda Limpahan, the 62-year-old woman who fell into the torrent and was saved by Vega's 15-year-old son, Matthew Mercado, was in even worse shape and was off its foundation, said Vega.

"It's totally sideways," she said.

Abundio Zamora, who owns the homes, said the flood seriously damaged both. He and others in the neighborhood suspected that a recently built bridge across the Pu'uhulu Stream cut off the flow and made the stream flood like never before.

In Hawai'i Kai, Kaiser High School students were sent home after the school day began when electricians couldn't quickly fix an electrical transformer. The school's electrical problems began Thursday and the school still had no power when it open yesterday morning, said principal John Sosa.

Police closed Kunia Road in both directions from Lyman Gate on Schofield Barracks to the entrance to Kunia tunnel after a broken water main eroded the ground under the road. Authorities said the road could collapse and might remain closed for some time.

John Bravender, forecaster with the National Weather Service, said more rain may be on the way over the next few days.

"The system that brought the heavy rains on Thursday has moved away," he said. "But there's a big upper level trough just west of the state that's keeping a deep southerly flow of winds across the area that keeps pulling in moisture from the tropics."