Hurricane Lala weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday after skirting Hawaii without making landfall, but it wasn’t done punishing the Big Island with hurricane-force gusts. Total rainfall of nearly 3ft (1 meter) was expected on the higher windward slopes, turning rivers into raging torrents and threatening mudslides. The Hawaii governor, Josh Green, said at least one person died in a car accident in the South Point area of the Big Island, where more than 100 homes were destroyed.
A little over 183,000 utility customers remained without power across Hawaii by Sunday mid-afternoon, according to the utility tracker PowerOutage.us. At least three hospitals were operating on generator power, and 19 roofs were lost, Green said. A search-and-rescue mission including civil defense, the national guard and coast guard was launched after flash floods apparently swept several occupied homes off their foundations in the coastal communities of Na’alehu and Wai’ohinu, near the island’s southern tip, the Hawaii county mayor, Kimo Alameda, said early on Sunday.
Tropical storm conditions were spreading westward on Sunday from Maui to Oahu and then Kauai, and the National Hurricane Center warned that wind speeds atop mountains and on the windward and leeward slopes are often up to 30% stronger than the near-surface winds used to categorize storms. The possibility the island could witness its first direct hit from a hurricane in 155 years faded as the eye of the storm passed the island’s southern tip. Landfall was not expected at this point, said the National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Joseph Clark.
However, hurricane-force winds were expected to continue into the overnight hours, with the strongest wind gusts likely in areas of higher terrain, the National Hurricane Center said. Heavy rainfall into Sunday could produce flooding and mudslides, while powerful waves pound the coast, the agency said. Tropical storm warnings remained in effect for the islands of Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Kauai and Niihau as the storm moved west, raising the possibility of destructive flooding and even wildfires kicked up by strong winds.
The beloved Punalu’u Bake Shop in Naalehu, Big Island, a tourist hotspot and major local employer, was severely damaged. Zachary Kennedy, the manager of the Hawaiian sweet bread bakery, said water rushed through their factories and retail store, leaving behind about 3ft of mud. It’s literally catastrophic,” Kennedy said.
Forecasters said higher elevations on the island, dominated by the towering Mauna Kea volcano, could get as much as 35in (89cm) of rain. That could cause life-threatening mudslides where some of Big Island’s 210,000 residents live off the grid in improvised housing. As the hurricane approached, shelters were opened, events were canceled and ranchers were urged to leave their cattle in pastures rather than structures that might collapse.
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