Hilo >> Floodwaters that swept through the Kau community of Naalehu killed a 90-year-old woman — a discovery made Monday as officials began confronting the scale of damage left by Lala, which strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane before wreaking havoc on Hawaii island over the weekend.
The first confirmed fatality directly related to flooding from the storm came as Gov. Josh Green, Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda, and Adjutant General Stephen Logan toured storm-damaged areas and assessed the damage on the Big Island, which took the brunt of the storm.
Officials said the woman lived in the Naalehu area, where fire crews initially had difficulty accessing the neighborhood and staged nearby while working with police. A first search came up empty, but National Guard personnel returned Monday and located her. While an ambulance was dispatched, she had already died.
“It was a very emotional time together,” Green said at a press conference at Hawaii County Police headquarters in Hilo.
Green said flooding, rather than wind, caused the greatest damage.
“Without a doubt, wind has affected roofs in some areas,” Green said. “It certainly blew down trees all over the place, but it’s the flood, and the mud, and the rock that poured through Naalehu, Pahala” that caused the greatest destruction.
Don’t miss out on what’s happening!
Stay in touch with breaking news, as it happens, conveniently in your email inbox. It’s FREE!
While Lala lingered just off the southern tip of the island and threatened a direct hit Saturday, the eye of the storm didn’t make landfall. Although it remained offshore, the impact up the island chain was extensive — reaching Oahu at tropical storm strength Saturday night and into Sunday.
There were widespread power outages across the state, and it hasn’t yet been determined how long some areas of the Big Island may be without electricity.
Schools, and state and county offices across Hawaii were closed Monday amid extensive mud, debris, and infrastructure damage.
During Monday’s assessment on the Big Island, officials saw homes partially buried in mud and significant damage to county parks.
Alameda said six bridges were either half destroyed or mostly destroyed, although he credited county and state crews with quickly beginning repairs.
“It looks way better now,” Alameda said, describing the work done within 24 hours as “phenomenal.”
Green said the storm exposed vulnerabilities in Hawaii’s aging infrastructure, particularly roads that have already experienced erosion and damage from previous storms.
“There is no question that some of the roads are vulnerable,” Green said.
He pointed to damage from the Kona low storms earlier this year, when prolonged rainfall washed away portions of the state’s infrastructure, especially on Maui.
Still, Green said he was encouraged by the condition of many bridges and roads following Lala. Some roads did collapse, he said, but crews were already repairing them.
“The progress will be somewhat brisk,” Green said. “I’m really glad to see that there wasn’t catastrophic damage to all of those bridges or the roads.”
The state will need to provide assistance to residents who were displaced, Green said. About 100 people remained in shelters as of Sunday night, down from roughly 400.
About 240 Hawaii National Guard soldiers and airmen have been activated statewide, Logan said. Roughly 60 are currently in Hawaii County, including 13 additional personnel brought to the island Sunday night.
Logan said the Guard is augmenting the county’s response, including with personnel trained in search, extraction and fatality recovery.
Although the Guard is prepared to assist throughout the state, Logan said Hawaii County is currently the priority because of the storm’s path and impacts.
No power
For many residents, recovery has also meant days without electricity.
In Puna, businesses have been forced to close, food has spoiled and residents have been left without reliable power as crews work to assess and repair storm damage.
Hawaiian Electric said it activated its emergency response plan ahead of Lala and positioned personnel and resources across its five-island service territory. It said more than 500 employees, contractors and support personnel were placed on standby or deployed to support damage assessment and restoration efforts, with additional personnel from Oahu staged on Hawaii island before the storm.
The utility said recent storms have underscored the challenges of restoring power on Hawaii Island, where flooding, road closures, fallen trees, difficult terrain and widespread infrastructure damage can delay crews.
Jasmine Feato from Hawaiian Beaches, a Subway manager at Pahoa Marketplace, said the restaurant had been without power since about 1 p.m. Saturday. She was at the restaurant Monday assessing how much food and other inventory would have to be discarded.
“There’s a lot to write off,” she said.
The outages are hurting both business owners and employees, she said. Businesses cannot open, owners lose revenue and employees lose work hours.
“It’s pretty bad,” Feato said.
Thomas Cummings, an employee at Malama Market in Puna, said the store also closed because of the lack of electricity. Some employees returned to clean up, including removing food that spoiled after refrigeration was lost.
For Cummings, coming into work at least allows employees to get paid while the store is closed.
But he said it is difficult seeing the entire community without power.
Cummings lives in Hawaiian Acres and has solar power, but said residents in areas including Ainaloa, Nanawale and Hawaiian Beaches remain without electricity.
He has experienced power outages during other storms, but they typically returned within a day.
“This time we lost three days already,” he said.
Personal devastation
For Carol Parrish and Beth Fuller, the storm also wiped out plans for a business they had spent months preparing to open. The Kapaʻau couple was set to open a bakeshop within weeks. Fuller recently retired, and they planned to use the business to help cover the gap between Social Security and Hawaii’s high cost of living. They had already ordered their supplies, and everything had arrived.
Then, a little after 5 p.m. Saturday, a powerful gust tore the roof from their home.
Parrish was looking through a large picture window facing east when she saw the roof lift.
“It just peeled the roof off,” Parrish said Monday, fighting back tears.
Parrish said winds in Kohala were gusting as high as 96 mph. The corrugated metal roofing peeled backward and flew into the backyard, damaging the attached carport.
Amid the chaos, their cat ran away. The couple grabbed their two dogs and medications and fled in their cars, unsure where to go.
Their power had gone out around 1 a.m. Saturday, and by the time they fled the house, they also had no internet or reliable cellphone service.
Eventually, they reached Parrish’s son in Waikoloa Village, where they stayed with their two large dogs in his two-bedroom apartment. They have since returned to Kapaʻau and are with neighbors who offered them a place to stay and help as they begin sorting through the damage to their home.
However, more rain poured through the missing roof, causing the ceilings to collapse. Roofing and structural debris now fill the living room, kitchen, office and bedroom, leaving the couple to navigate broken wood, nails and screws as they sort through water-damaged belongings.
Fuller said much of the documentation they need for insurance claims may have been destroyed or is inaccessible beneath the debris.
The couple has lived in the home for about 10 years and has renters insurance, but they have not been able to fully begin the claims process because of spotty cellphone and internet service.
The storm also destroyed the supplies they had purchased for the bakeshop.
“Beth had just retired, and that was gonna be our income,” Parrish said.
Now, their most immediate needs are money to replace basic necessities and a place to stay while they figure out their next steps. The couple has also set up a GoFundMe to help with recovery expenses.
The couple has lived through floods, Kona lows, earthquakes and other natural disasters, Fuller said. They had never experienced anything like this.
As communities begin cleaning up, relief organizations are trying to identify residents who need help.
Ashley Kierkiewicz, chief resilience officer at Vibrant Hawaii, said the non-profit organization is working with the Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency and has established an online request-for-assistance form for people affected by Lala.
As of 4 p.m. Monday, 613 households representing about 2,300 people had submitted requests, Kierkiewicz said. She emphasized that the figure only includes people with internet access and working devices or cellphone service, meaning the actual number of people needing assistance could be higher.
Vibrant Hawaii has activated resilience hubs in Lower Puna, Upper Puna, Volcano and Kau, with additional hubs planned for Hamakua and North Kohala.
The hubs are distributing water, with many also providing sandwiches or hot meals through partnerships with local restaurants and World Central Kitchen.
Kierkiewicz said residents are particularly in need of water, ice, propane and gasoline as power outages continue.
“Everybody needs ice until power is restored,” she said, noting that residents need it to keep food and other perishables cold.
She said the response will need to continue well beyond the immediate aftermath of the storm.
“This is a constantly moving response effort,” Kierkiewicz said. “It’s going to need to be sustained for the long haul.”
State assistance
Gov. Josh Green said the state has $3 million available immediately for recovery efforts, with additional assistance expected, including gift cards from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs. Residents who lost their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cards will also be able to have them replaced.