Trouble in Paradise...

AP: KILAUEA, Hawaii - Searchers with dogs looked for bodies in the mud and debris Wednesday after a break in a century-old earthen dam released a roaring, tree-snapping torrent of water and raised fears about the safety of dozens of similar dams across Hawaii.

Search crews found one body and looked for as many as six other missing people who had been staying in the same house on the island of Kauai, including a couple who were to be married Saturday.

The Coast Guard search for victims extended eight miles out to sea. Searchers found a man's body in debris a half mile offshore.

Officials feared another dam downstream might also fail, and crews worked to pump water out of its reservoir. Structural experts arrived to inspect the reservoir, as heavy rains continued across the island. The showers were expected to persist through Friday.

Nearly all of Hawaii's dams were built early in the past century before federal or state standards existed. Many date to the 1890s, when sugar plantations dotted the islands. Like the dam on the Kaloko Reservoir, many are privately owned earthen structures.

In October, the American Society of Civil Engineers said at least 22 dams in the Hawaiian Islands had deficiencies that raised safety concerns. The society has been monitoring 130 dams in Hawaii. The dam on the Kaloko Reservoir was not on the list of dams rated "high-hazard" structures that could cause deaths and significant damage if they failed.

Kuhio Highway, the only roadway running along Kauai's north shore, was damaged by debris and water, cutting off thousands of residents and tourists. It reopened late Wednesday.

Although not the island where I'd like to retire someday, I feel a certain fondness for all of the Hawaiian islands, and Kauai is particularly beautiful; I hope that these concerns can be dealt with before anyone else loses their life because of a similar occurrence...