There was a lot going on in Hawaii: Videos show a violent wave impact. Climate change was probably part of what happened here, too.
Waves up to six meters high caused flooding on the south coast of the US archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific over the weekend. Here waves spectacularly wash over an entire row of houses by the sea:
Guests at a wedding party in Kailua-Kona get it in this video. First you see the guests staring in disbelief at the rolling wave – then it gets wet: tables and chairs were washed away just before the ceremony began.
Expert: Waves haven’t been this big in ‘decades’ in this part of Hawaii
According to the National Weather Service in Honolulu on Monday, the high waves were caused by a combination of particularly strong swells (outgoing sea waves), exceptionally high tides and higher sea levels. This is partly due to climate change.
Meteorologist Chris Brenchley said it was extremely rare to see such huge waves in southern Hawaii. “They haven’t been this big in decades.”
Northern Hawaii, where most surfing competitions take place, often has much larger waves than the south. This time, a storm created a swell in the South Pacific, where it is currently winter, which then moved towards Samoa and on to Hawaii, said expert Brenchley.
