floods
A swimmer at Waioka Pond, also known as Venus Pool, died after a flash flood swept multiple swimmers out to the ocean today, the Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety announced.

Maui Fire Department personnel responded just before 10 a.m. to the swimmers being swept out to the ocean.

The department confirmed that two swimmers were able to climb to safety before being carried into the ocean. Two other swimmers ended up in the ocean, but one was able to swim back to shore.


MFD said the other swimmer, a 26-year-old woman from Vista, Calif., was last seen "clinging to rocks as the flash flood pushed through."

After a land and air search that involved fire department personnel and local residents, the missing swimmer was found unresponsive at the rocky shoreline around 1:30 p.m. She was airlifted to an awaiting medic, where she was pronounced dead.

MFD noted the weather at the scene as being "stormy." The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for Maui that remains in place through tonight.