A Burst Dam in Hawaii Killed Seven People — Was It Really an Act of God?

The Hawaiian island of Kauai, with its pristine rain forests and idyllic beaches, is an American paradise. The “Garden Isle,” as it’s called, is also a popular wedding destination, a remote and romantic setting that lures young couples to take their vows amid its exotic beauty.

Kristina “Sunny” McNees and Daniel Arroyo had chosen a garden setting on the island called the Taro Patch for their wedding. It was to be a lot like the wedding of Aurora Fehring and Alan Dingwall, who were married on her parents’ lush Kauai land. Fehring grew up on the island, and her Swiss fiancé fell in love with her, and with the land around them.

Kauai is one of the most beautiful places on earth, but it is also one of the wettest. The island gets, on average, 466 inches — nearly 40 feet — of rainfall every year in the mountain rainforest. Rain is the island’s primary source of fresh water, and supports irrigation for agriculture. For more than a century, that rain also fed the Kaloko Reservoir near the base of the mountains, three miles above the Fehring’s home. Few living in the valley ever thought much about the 30 acre body of water, and virtually no one considered it a threat.

read more and watch video clip

(Source: Jim Avila and Glenn Silber, ABC 20/20)