Honolulu (US), Aug 17 (AP) Hurricane Lala weakened to a tropical storm on Sunday after its eyewall skirted Hawaii without making landfall, but it punished the state with cyclonic gusts and pounding rain, reaching nearly 1 metre in places, and sending raging torrents down mountainsides.
A search-and-rescue mission including Civil Defense, the National Guard and a Coast Guard helicopter 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 Big Island’s southern tip, authorities said.
“What makes this very challenging is that there’s rushing water, there’s debris, and there’s boulders on the road and it’s dark," Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said early Sunday.
At least one person died in a vehicle wreck in the South Point area of the Big Island, Gov Josh Green said Saturday.
Flooding, downed trees and power outages ——————————————————- Honolulu was bearing the brunt of Sunday morning’s weather as tropical storm conditions spread westward across the island chain. Honolulu Fire Department had launched dozens of weather-related responses by 2 am local time Sunday, including 58 reports of downed trees, 39 blown roofs, 12 downed power lines, 12 arcing-wire situations and one swimmer rescue, according to a statement from the city.
Much of the state remained under a flash flood warning, though the Big Island was downgraded to a flood advisory Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy rain, mudslides, downed trees, active flooding and downed power lines were among the biggest threats, weather service meteorologist Stephen Parker said.
“Basically, the best thing to do right now is just stay home for a bit longer," he said. “The storm won’t last forever and once those kind of threats get cleaned up, it will be safe to be out and about again." Fewer than 60,000 homes and businesses were without power by 9:30 am local time, down from more than 200,000 just a few hours earlier, according to utility tracker poweroutage.us website. At least three hospitals were operating on generator power, the governor said.
Powerful waves pounded the Big Island’s coast as Lala slowly passed by. Just missing landfall, the eyewall didn’t weaken, and its winds pounded the mountainsides. Waterways swelled with fast-moving runoff as bands of rain blew nearly sideways.
What’s next for Lala ————————- Tropical storm warnings were in effect for the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau, raising the possibility of destructive flooding and even wildfires kicked up by strong winds on the drier sides of the islands.
The heaviest rain Sunday morning was falling on Lanai, Moloka’i and Oahu, while the highest winds were gusts over 161 kph at the towering Mauna Kea volcano on the Big Island, Parker said.
As of 8 am Sunday in Hawaii, Lala was centred about 105 km southwest of Honolulu with reports of wind gusts of nearly 112 kph in Kaneohe on Oahu, National Hurricane Center Director Michael Brennan said in an update.
He said the storm was moving northwest at about 22 kph, and conditions across Kauai were expected to deteriorate during the day.
Forecasters expect Lala to regain hurricane strength midweek once it’s well west of the island chain.
Some higher-altitude places on the Big Island, dominated by Mauna Kea, have been hit with as much as 89 cm of rain. That’s enough to loosen steep slopes where some of the 210,000 islanders live off the grid in improvised housing.
As the hurricane approached, shelters were opened, events were cancelled and ranchers were urged to leave their cattle in pastures rather than structures that might collapse. Many residents are still dealing with the aftermath of devastating floods in March and were taking precautions. (AP) ARB ARB