Hawaii Couple Loses Dream Home to Raging River

An elderly couple in Hawaii lost their lifelong dream home when it was engulfed by a river during a severe storm. Tom and Carrie Bashaw, both in their eighties, had invested their entire life savings into the Maui property, which was destroyed less than six years after its construction.

The storm, a cold-centered cyclone known as a Kona, inundated Maui with 44 inches of water. The couple's home in Wailuku sat on a hill overlooking Iao Stream, typically a modest waterway. Despite being 75 feet from the stream and 45 feet above it, the typically placid waters swelled into a raging torrent, eroding the home's foundation.

The Bashaws, who began building in 2020, had not anticipated such a disaster. They observed the stream rising and trees falling before fleeing their home late Friday evening. Upon returning Saturday morning, they discovered the entire back of their house had been swept away, followed later by the garage. The couple did not have flood insurance as the property was not in a designated flood zone.

Currently, the Bashaws are sleeping on air mattresses in a storage container on their property with their cats. A GoFundMe, initiated by their daughter, has raised nearly $48,500 to help with immediate needs like temporary housing and replacing essential belongings as they begin to rebuild their lives.