Lala leaves Hawaii communities cut off after destructive rains

Tropical Storm Lala moved west away from Hawaii on Monday, leaving communities on the Big Island cut off by washed-out bridges, collapsed roads and mudslides that destroyed homes after the storm passed close to the island chain over the weekend.

In Waiohinu, a small community near the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island, a mudslide swept through and destroyed about a dozen homes, CBS News reported. Resident Alice Birnbaum said the force of the debris was frightening.

“The boulders that were coming down were so heavy they were like shaking the ground,” Birnbaum told CBS News. She said a CBS crew was the first group she had seen from outside her community since Lala passed. “We need water. We need, people need propane, people need gas, people need food,” she said.

Across the Big Island, floodwaters damaged or swept away about 100 homes and six bridges, according to The Guardian. Hawaii Gov. Josh Green estimated the storm caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage statewide, with more than 100 homes and several bridges damaged on the Big Island.

Kimo Alameda, Hawaii County’s mayor, said that in some areas of the Big Island “it’s devastation.” Jeanne Kapela told Honolulu Civil Beat, according to The Guardian, “It’s complete and utter devastation. Families have lost their homes; the entire community is impacted.”

Lala’s eye passed about 30 miles off the Big Island’s coast over the weekend when it was a Category 1 hurricane, CBS News reported. The storm brought wind gusts over 80 mph and torrential rain. Some areas received more than 3 feet of rain, and Kapalua in Maui County recorded 48 inches over the weekend. The Guardian, citing AccuWeather, reported rainfall topped 3.5 feet in some places over 48 hours.

More than 100,000 customers remained without power across the Hawaiian Islands on Monday, according to poweroutage.us. Hawaiian Electric said the storm knocked out power to as many as 111,000 customers, The Guardian reported. Utility crews were working to restore service, but warned that rural areas could face outages lasting weeks. Helicopters and drones were being used to assess damage in remote, mountainous areas.

The storm also damaged transportation links. Bridges on the Big Island were washed away, cutting off several communities. The Guardian, citing The New York Times, reported that parts of a major highway in the island’s southeast collapsed overnight, blocking road access to Pahala, home to the region’s only hospital.

Officials were still investigating whether anyone had died in the storm. “We’re praying that there are essentially no fatalities. The question is a difficult one to answer in some ways,” Green said.

Randy Collins, Hawaii’s emergency management director, warned that dangers remain after the storm. “Many casualties often happen after the disaster,” Collins told reporters. “As people are cleaning things up, they’re working with heavy equipment, chainsaws, generators. They’re working around downed power lines and so forth. That’s when the casualties come.”

On Oahu, the Honolulu Fire Department had received more than 600 weather-related responses by noon Sunday, including 147 reports of downed trees, The Guardian reported. A city statement also cited roofs blown off, downed power lines and one swimmer rescue.

All Hawaii state and county offices, state Department of Education schools, public charter schools, courts and judiciary offices were closed Monday, state officials said.

Lala weakened to a tropical storm after passing Hawaii, but forecasters said it could strengthen again over the open Pacific. The National Hurricane Center said Monday night that Lala had maximum sustained winds of 65 mph and could become a hurricane again by late Tuesday or Wednesday.