Hawaii tourism leaders are urging travelers to avoid Kauai for now as the island’s residents, hotels and local businesses begin cleaning up after the latest tropical storm to batter the state.
Hurricane Lowell brought fierce winds and pounding surf to Kauai earlier this week, damaging beachfront resorts, tearing up roads and leaving parts of the island without electricity. The island is famed for its lush scenery, waterfalls and steep coastal cliffs.
By late Thursday, thousands of customers — including several resort properties — were still waiting for power to be restored. Cleanup crews were working to remove fallen trees and utility poles from roadways, while long lines formed at Kauai’s main airport as visitors tried to leave the island.
“Our hope is that visitors will adjust their travel plans instead of canceling their trip to Hawai‘i altogether,” Caroline Anderson, interim president and CEO of Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, said in a written statement. “Adjusting your itinerary allows you to continue your Hawaiʻi vacation while supporting the state’s broader visitor economy as Kauaʻi recovers.”
Kauai receives just a small share of the nearly 10 million people who visit Hawaii each year, but tourism remains the island’s biggest economic engine. Visitors come from around the world for its tropical landscapes, cascading waterfalls and rugged cliffs, and local estimates suggest the industry supports 4 in 10 jobs on Kauai.
The hurricane’s storm surge caused widespread destruction, buckling and washing out roads, collapsing walls of homes and flooding resort properties. At one hotel, rushing water swept through the lobby, overturning furniture and leaving debris behind. Officials have linked the storm to two deaths: a 74-year-old man found Wednesday near Kauai’s south shore and another man found dead Monday on Oahu after a large tree fell onto his tent.
Democratic Gov. Josh Green on Wednesday asked President Donald Trump to approve a major disaster declaration, a step that would speed federal assistance to Kauai and Maui counties.
In Poipu, the Ko‘a Kea Resort said guests who could not reschedule their stays would be offered refunds, though management expects normal operations to resume within two weeks. The Sheraton Kauai Coconut Beach Resort, which reported no structural damage, said it would close starting Thursday evening and hoped to reopen soon after electricity is restored.
While images of destruction flooded social media, 68-year-old Chris White, a lifelong resident of Kauai and the owner of a rental home in Poipu, noted that much of the island was spared significant damage. He said he keeps a spare generator and solar water heater at the property in case of power outages, and he urged potential visitors to check with the owners of their properties about whether they should still come.
“There are countless images on the web of devastation, so I’m not trying to gloss that over,” White said. “I’m just trying to add a little more balance to it. It’s a beautiful day here. Guests can still walk to Poipu Beach. There are bathrooms that work. The water’s running.”
Kelly Kakalia, co-owner of The Musubi Truck, a Kauai food truck business, said she is not overly worried about the interruption to tourism.
“I would be silly to say tourism doesn’t drive our economy,” she said, but “our island needs time to rest and rebuild and make sure locals have power and water” before welcoming back tourists.
On Wednesday, Musubi’s staff used its commercial kitchen in Wailua, on Kauai’s east side, to serve nearly 600 free meals. Relying on propane to cook and generators to keep food cold, they prepared poke bowls, chicken, ahi katsu and rice. A neighboring cafe owner plugged a blender into her pickup truck to make free smoothies, and a nearby brewery brought warm beer for the volunteers.
“We were serving from 10:30 to 4 and there was a line the entire time,” Kakalia said.
Born and raised on Kauai, the 36-year-old said she didn’t want to sell food during a time of need. The community is filled with classmates, cousins and others she’s known all her life, she said.
After the kitchen got power back, Kakalia donated the generators to other families still without electricity.
As for losing any business, she said, “that’s just part of it.”
“The community and island are more important,” Kakalia said.
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Johnson reported from Seattle and Rodriguez from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego contributed.
