Farmer delays own recovery to help neighbors rebuild
By Angela Cifone
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NORTH SHORE, Hawaii (KITV) — Joey Cadiz arrived at his farm before sunrise, just as the storm’s impact was unfolding.
“At that point, the sirens were going off. Police were driving down as best they could to evacuate everybody, and I saw water running from this direction behind me from my farm,” said Joey Cadiz, a kalo farmer on the north shore.
Floodwaters quickly took over… not just his land, but the entire surrounding area.
With roads underwater, Joey grabbed what he could to move through it.
“I had my stand-up paddleboard with me, and saw some people that were trying to make it across this area, and started helping them out and getting them to higher ground,” said Cadiz.
Only later did he make it back to his farm… to a devastating reality.
“I came to my farm to just see what was left. I pretty much knew everything was gone,” said Cadiz.
And it wasn’t just crops he feared for.
“I was looking for where my pigs were, which at this point, knowing how deep it was, I thought I was just going to be looking for bodies and trying to figure out what to do next with them,” said Cadiz.
At first…nothing, until one small sign of life.
Cadiz said, “ I did find one baby pig on that day on the way out, it was actually pinned. It was our smallest, newest pig. It was gonna be about two months, and it was pinned in some logs in my tree. And as I was paddling back out, I saw it lift up its head, and that was pretty much my last rescue of the day.”
Days later, social media brought unexpected relief.
“People were posting pictures of a family of pigs, and I recognized all of them. They were mine, and slowly, a few of my volunteers and friends came and kind of lured them back into the pen, and now we’ve got them all back,” said Cadiz.
But even with that small victory, the loss was overwhelming.
Joey says he knew there was little he could do to save his farm, so he decided to put others first.
“We’ve lost everything at the farm, so there’s not very much more I can prepare at this point; it’s more just about making sure the community has what they need,” said Cadiz.
He teamed up with volunteers—going house to house, helping neighbors clear what they could.
“I met up with the boys on the tractor, and we just all teamed up and got to work going from house to house and neighborhood to neighborhood,” said Cadiz.
Weeks later, the damage still lingers.
Contaminated water and heavy sediment have left crops unusable.
“That type of sediment sitting on our waters right now makes me feel very uncomfortable. All my crops I’ve considered a loss because I don’t trust the type of contaminants that might be on them,” said Cadiz.
And recovery isn’t simple.
Many farmers here say insurance options are limited, leaving them vulnerable after disasters like this.
Cadiz said, “Flood insurance isn’t exactly something that we can even apply for. This kind of devastation, where we’ve lost everything, that becomes an issue for a lot of us.”
For Joey and others on the North Shore, rebuilding will take time.
But even in the face of loss, the focus remains on community and moving forward together.
“We pray that it never happens again, but this is devastating,” said Cadiz.
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