HONOLULU (KHON2) — Another massive boulder smashed into a home in Aiea. This is the second close call involving a boulder nearly missing the owners inside their homes. 

The Aiea homeowner Tyler Ramelb said the boulder slammed into their home around two in the morning. He and his wife were asleep when the loud sound woke them up. 

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“Sounded like a loud explosion,” Ramelb said. “We woke up to this boulder, like one or two feet away from us. It was definitely a shock. I thought it was a dream.”

A couple of weeks ago another boulder rolled into a home and nearly hit the owner at a Palolo home. 

A boulder wedged in the closet of an Aiea home after a resident said it rolled through a retaining wall and landed in his bedroom on Wednesday morning, Feb. 8, 2023.
A wrecked wall of an Aiea home after a resident said a boulder first rolled through a retaining wall and landed in his bedroom on Wednesday morning, Feb. 8, 2023. (Tyler Ramelb)
A wrecked wall of an Aiea home after a resident said a boulder first rolled through a retaining wall and landed in his bedroom on Wednesday morning, Feb. 8, 2023. (Tyler Ramelb)
The scene of where an Aiea resident said a boulder first rolled through a retaining wall and landed in his bedroom on Wednesday morning, Feb. 8, 2023. (Tyler Ramelb)

Ramelb said he saw the news report about recent boulders coming down, but never expected his home would be next. 

“I couldn’t move, I was shocked. I just couldn’t believe what just happened and just the fact that it was so clos. It was just scary.”

Rousseau Services Vice President Pierre Rousseau inspected the slope near Ramelb’s home. He said he saw a couple of rocks that could pose a hazard. 

He said, “Get another big rain, you may have some more rock falling down so it should be addressed as soon as possible there.”

The land on top of the mountain is owned by the Board of Water Supply, but the middle portion of the land is privately owned. A BWS spokesperson said crews were sent to inspect the area, and it is still to be determined on whose property line the rock came from. 

Ramelb said, “Myself, my family and the neighbors all around us, we just want to make sure that we don’t have to worry about this sort of thing.”

Over at the Palolo rockslide site, the landowner said they are contracting a geologist to survey the slope for more hazards. 

Rousseau said there are dangerous rocks all throughout the state.

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Rousseau said, “Communicate with the owner on the top there, because the rock came from the owner on the top. If it’s your land you’re good to go. Look at your property, see what you have on your land, and be sure you’re not going to hurt anybody down below. That’s the most important thing.”

For Ramelb, that large boulder is at least out of his home.