Now that food and fuel are arriving, the emotions of the last two weeks are catching up to people in the isolated Kauai communities of Wainiha and Haena, where an unknown number of homes were destroyed in unprecedented flooding last month.

“Overall, I think everybody’s holding up,” said Laura Richards, general manager at the Hanalei Colony Resort — which is actually in Haena and is serving as a key center for community relief and a makeshift school. “But we’re everyday people reaching their emotional limits. Every day you never know whether you’re the person whose emotions catch up to you.”

A rain gauge in Waipa west of Hanalei recorded a whopping 49.69 inches of rain during a 24-hour period from April 15 to 16 — possibly breaking the all-time U.S. record for rainfall in 24 hours, according to the National Weather Service. If certified, the total would smash the current record of 43 inches in Alvin, Texas, in July 1979.

Much remains unknown about the extent of the damage to the neighboring beach-side communities — and what comes next.

No numbers have been released about how many homes were damaged or destroyed in Wainiha and Haena, let alone all across the Garden Isle.

It’s also unknown how many millions of dollars will be needed to repair and rebuild houses and roads, especially Kuhio Highway, which serves as the only road in and out of Wainiha and Haena.

“The adrenalin is gone, and we’re all just trying to figure it out,” Richards said. “Some people are crying, some are just very frustrated.”

The state Department of Health has sent in mental health professionals, and residents are taking advantage of the service, Richards said.

There are several plans underway to begin to get life back to normal, but nothing is certain.

Kauai County officials are fulfilling Mayor Bernard Carvalho’s pledge to pick up bagged trash and distribute 5 gallons of fuel per week per household.

County officials are also working on plans for a shuttle service to drive people out once one lane of Kuhio Highway has been cleared for emergency passage, using a combination of all-terrain vehicles on the Wainiha side and county buses on the Hanalei side.

“We don’t yet have all the logistics confirmed,” county spokeswoman Sarah Blane said.

At the same time, the state Department of Transportation is still clearing debris along Kuhio Highway, which was pounded by more than a dozen landslides.

Seven different crews made up of DOT personnel and private contractors also are working to stabilize the mauka-side slopes to make Kuhio Highway safe enough to allow one lane of contra-flow traffic across a 2.5-mile-long stretch of traffic beginning Monday.

“We’re still targeting May 7 as the date to open one lane, but it will be for local traffic only,” said DOT spokesman Tim Sakahara. “It won’t be for everyone and certainly not for tourists. We need to keep everyone off the roadway that shouldn’t be there.”

Hawaii Army National Guard troops and Kauai police officers continue to restrict nonconstruction and nonemergency traffic, Blane said.

Even when one lane of Kuhio Highway opens to residents, there will be weight limitations of some kind, Sakahara said.

“If a local resident has a big, heavy truck, that’s not going to be allowed,” Sakahara said.

A current 5,000-pound weight limit is in place after DOT opened one lane for emergencies Saturday.

DOT officials plan to request reimbursement from the Federal Highway Administration’s emergency relief program for the costs of stabilizing bridges, rebuilding Kuhio Highway and importing temporary, so-called Acrow bridges adjacent to the Waioli, Waipa and Waikoko bridges, Sakahara said.

Although the total costs are unknown for the DOT work alone, Sakahara said, “it’s going to be in the millions.”

Given all that’s happened in the last two weeks, Richards said it’s hard for people to get their hopes up.

A group of retired veterans is going door to door helping residents clean up tons of mud left by receding stormwater that sometimes reeks of sewage.

Richards has been in contact with a mainland religious group that has expressed interest in helping to rebuild in Wainiha and Haena, although nothing’s been formalized.

But, Richards said, “progress is progress,” adding, “There’s so much more to accomplish.”