Someone crashing on your couch for a night or two is usually fine with most people. The case might be different if a homewrecker (literally) comes over unannounced to crash at your place (literally), though. This was the case Palolo Valley’s Sasaki household went through when a boulder disrupted what seemed to be an average Saturday night. A massive rock smashed through a house in Hawaii’s Palolo Valley on the night of January 28, with Caroline Sasaki only escaping it by seconds.
A now-viral video, of this wild incident, with 1.2 million views, shows Caroline heading to the TV area when there’s a loud boom, and the boulder enters, crushing through the home’s cinder block wall and living room before cosily settling into a bedroom. Caroline managed to duck away, avoiding what could have been life-threatening injuries by a couple of inches.
A massive boulder smashed through a home in Palolo Valley almost hitting the owner inside. @KHONnews #news#breakingnews#hawaii#khon2news pic.twitter.com/KGoVLXeaDJ— Max Rodriguez (@maxrrrod) January 30, 2023
“I really didn’t know what happened except for the loud boom," she said, adding that the incident had shaken her up so much that she found it hard to sleep.
According to a report by Hawaii News Now, the Fire Department said that the boulder was about 5 feet in height and width.
It is interesting to note that the rolling down of huge rocks is not normal in this valley region. Caroline, who said that she had spent her childhood in the neighbourhood, told the media that boulders rolling down the hill are not commonplace. Other longtime residents also agreed.
“We lived in this same location. We just knocked down the old house and rebuilt it, and it’s never happened before, heavy rain and hurricane warnings, nothing. So, no rocks ever came down," Caroline told Khon2 News.
A crucial change in the landscape that residents of the area pointed towards was a home development project and the carving of the mountain behind her home. “We’ve had some issues with them carving the mountain, and I don’t know if that’s the cause," she said.
Bingning Li, the development owner, said the project and the boulder incidents were not related. “Not at all, this is from way above, I looked at one of those rocks about 50 feet away from on top of the property and landed over there and then made its way down here," he said said. Li also announced that he would have engineers inspect the project and bolster a barrier wall along the project.
On Monday, the City Department of Planning and Permitting inspectors were on scene to assess the area. Concerned residents want answers before anyone gets hurt.
Read all the Latest Buzz News here