How I knew the sea level was rising on Maui 3 years ago

I was trying to drive from Lahaina back to Kihei area and Kahului to the airport there on Maui, Hawaii back to the mainland in my rental car with my wife and friends when I realized that the lower road from Lahaina to Kihei was being washed over with waves. This didn't seem like a good idea to me and because I realized that the upper road has been put in probably for this purpose I went up on the hills further away from the ocean road so I wouldn't have to deal with random waves hitting the sides of my rental car. It just wasn't safe to drive (at high tide) along this road on that day 3 years ago before Covid hit the mainland and Hawaii and the world.