Deja Vu All Over Again as Rains Drench Hawaii

It was the third time in four years that the library has suffered during fall rains. “It seems like every year around this time,” said Kyle Hamada, conservation librarian at the University of Hawaii’s Hamilton Library.

About a year ago, Hamilton Library suffered about $500,000 worth of damage when thousands of books and rare documents were wrecked by heavy rain.

This time, says a report from the Honolulu Advertiser, the flooding was apparently caused by repair work debris that clogged drain pipes. The library continues to recover from damage caused in 2004 during flooding on Halloween.