HONOLULU — Hurricane Lala brushed past Hawaii’s Big Island on Saturday without coming ashore, and forecasters said the storm should slowly lose strength after battering the area with damaging winds and soaking rains that inundated roads and sent rivers surging.
The threat of the Big Island seeing its first direct hurricane strike in 155 years diminished as Lala’s eye moved beyond the island’s southern tip. National Weather Service meteorologist Joseph Clark said landfall is no longer expected at this point.
Still, dangerous conditions were not over. The National Hurricane Center said hurricane-force winds were expected to persist into the overnight hours, with the most powerful gusts likely across higher-elevation areas. Heavy rain continuing into Sunday could trigger flooding and mudslides, while large, forceful waves slam the coastline, the agency warned.
As the hurricane tracks west, tropical storm warnings remain in place for Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau. The Big Island, Hawaii’s largest island, is home to roughly 210,000 residents.
Along the shore, whitecapped surf crashed relentlessly, while fierce winds bent the tops of palm trees and rain, driven almost sideways, filled waterways with swift, muddy runoff.
Gov. Josh Green said at least one person was killed in a vehicle crash in the South Point area of the Big Island. He also reported that 19 roofs had been torn off and 190 flights were postponed. “You definitely want to be home, do not be out on the roads,” Green said.
Forecasters said the island’s higher terrain, shaped by the massive Mauna Kea volcano, could receive up to 25 inches of rain. Such totals could unleash life-threatening mudslides in steep, rural areas where some residents live off the grid in makeshift housing.
Earlier, Green described Hurricane Lala as an “enormous storm,” warning it could bring destructive flooding and, with powerful winds sweeping across the island chain, even raise the risk of wildfires.
Tens of thousands of homes were without power.
Residents prepare for the worst
Bobby Camara, a 75-year-old lifelong resident, said he planned to “hunker down, cross my fingers, hope the lights don’t go out” at a care home just outside Hilo. He said gas stations were busy as people sought fuel for chain saws and vehicles.
“I think stocking up is part of life over here… You learn to be self-reliant,” Camara said.
Mike Caputo, who lives in Keaau, near the Big Island’s east coast, said his power generator was ready and a 10,000-gallon home water tank was full. He said the main concern was flash flooding and fallen trees, especially albizia, a common tree.
“They’re not very sturdy, but they grow extremely large,” said Caputo, 50, a local fire captain. “They can make roads impassable.”
Warnings posted everywhere
Lala intensified from a tropical storm into a hurricane early Saturday as its maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph, the hurricane center reported, making it a Category 1 hurricane. The Big Island is Hawaii’s largest and has a population of about 210,000.
A hurricane last made landfall on the islands in 1992, when Hurricane Iniki — a Category 4 storm — lashed Kauai.
“It did $3 billion worth of damage. It destroyed thousands of homes, and it did kill six people,” said Green, the governor. “We just can never know if a storm is going to turn.”
The Big Island was last hit directly in 1871, when a Category 3 hurricane hit the northeast corner, according to research by a University of Hawaii atmospheric scientist.
On Saturday, shelters were opened, events were canceled and ranchers were urged to leave their cattle in pastures, rather than structures that might collapse.
Christine Matsuda, who lives in Waimea, on the northern side of the island, said “big gusts every few minutes rattle the whole house.”
“We’re finding unexpected leaks in places that don’t see water under normal conditions,” Matsuda said.
The hurricane center predicted 8 to 12 inches of total rainfall across Maui and the lower elevations of the Big Island, and 4 to 6 inches across the island chain.
Many Hawaii residents are still dealing with the aftermath of devastating floods in March.
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