Hawaii's worst flooding in over 20 years has left a $1 billion trail of destruction, and the Wahiawa dam — a 120-year-old structure with a long history of safety violations — nearly pushed the disaster into catastrophic territory. Dole received four deficiency notices since 2009 and only a $20,000 fine for ignoring them, while the state's dam transfer remains incomplete. Human-caused global warming is intensifying Kona lows, and failing to fix aging infrastructure before climate-driven disasters strike is an inexcusable failure of governance.