Some of the places you might not want to be during Hurricane Lane on Maui

I lived on Maui in 1989 and 1990 and I also had an experience on a section of the Road to Hana where my family and I were almost washed into the sea off a cliff during a bad rainstorm there by water coming over the road and rocks coming over the road.

When it is raining at all it isn't a good idea to be traveling the road to Hana from Paia  because water comes over the road in many places. They have built the road so likely it can withstand this most places but it doesn't mean your vehicle won't be washed off the roads in places into the ocean. The other place I wouldn't go to would be the "Seven Sacred Pools". But remember, in Hana there is the Hana Airport where smaller planes and helicopters can land to evacuate you if things get real bad as long as the weather allows this. So, if you are stuck somewhere between Hana and the Seven Sacred pools it is possible to be rescued even if the Road to Hana is fatal in the hurricane. The Seven Sacred Pools would be a problem because of water coming down at great speed over the road from Haleakala Crater down 10,000 feet to the ocean there during a hurricane.

This was my experience and it wasn't even during a hurricane. We had a Ford Window van which had a lot of ground clearance so I wrongly thought we would be okay. So, when rocks and small boulders along with streams of water 2 feet deep across the road to Hana came across the road I started to worry because my family (wife and two of my children) were in the Van with us. And I didn't want us all to die that night driving back from Kahului after shopping near the airport then likely in 1989 or early 1990. So, finally when the rear of the van left the ground and was floating and I didn't have the rear wheels on the ground anymore I asked everyone climb into the back of the van to weight it so I could get traction from the rear wheels so we didn't die then. Water by this time was already coming across the floorboards of the Van so my feet were wet with the river of water coming across from right to left from the water and rocks were hitting our wheels and tires in the water too. Eventually we barely made it in one piece back to Hana where we were living and working and going to school then.

And this wasn't even in a hurricane this was just in a rain storm. So, don't drive the Road to Hana in a Rainstorm if you can help it and especially don't drive it in a hurricane because it isn't safe to do this.