Hurricane Lala: Flash Floods Sweep Away Homes on Hawaii's Big Island as Storm Weakens Offshore

Hurricane Lala never made landfall on Hawaii's Big Island, but it did not need to. As its eyewall passed within 30 miles of the island's South Point overnight, the storm dumped up to 32in (81cm) of rain in places, triggering flash floods and mudslides that swept more than 100 properties from their foundations, according to [1]. One person died in a car accident linked to the storm, according to [1]. Governor Josh Green told a press conference that, despite the scale of property destruction, there did not "amazingly" appear to be wider loss of life from the washed-away homes, though a number of people were taken to hospital for minor injuries, according to [1]. The scale of the outage was substantial: more than 200,000 households lost power, according to [1], with tracker PowerOutage recording roughly 219,000 customers without electricity across Hawaii as of Sunday afternoon local time. Three hospitals lost power but continued operating on backup generators, according to [1]. Big Island's two main airports, Hilo International and Ellison Onizuka Kona, closed temporarily before reopening, and some Maui residents were left without water supply on Saturday, according to [1]. The National Hurricane Center's advisory at 20:00 EDT (00:00 GMT) on Sunday had Lala down to near 65mph winds, a tropical storm, after peaking at 91mph hurricane strength on Saturday afternoon, according to [1]. Tropical storm warnings remained in effect for all eight of Hawaii's major islands as of Sunday, with officials warning the danger was not over, according to [1]. That account, filed as the storm was still unfolding, sits alongside a more complete — and considerably more alarming — record from [2], which describes Lala as the third-wettest tropical cyclone on record to affect Hawaii and the first hurricane to directly strike the Big Island since an unnamed storm in 1871. According to [2], Lala weakened to a tropical storm after its initial brush with the Big Island on 16 August, then reorganised over open water and intensified dramatically, reaching Category 4 strength on 19 August with winds of 130mph and a central pressure of 947 mbar. That source also puts the death toll at three, higher than the single fatality reported in the initial account — a discrepancy this paper cannot resolve from the material to hand and flags rather than adjudicates. A state of emergency was declared for the entire state on 13 August, activating the Hawaii National Guard — about 180 members were deployed, according to [1] — and the US Coast Guard set high-alert port conditions for harbours on the Big Island and Maui, according to [2]. The trigger for this piece was Wayne's own storm-tracking instrument, which flagged Lala at 80kt near 24.9, -172.3 — a position and intensity consistent with the storm's post-Big Island reintensification phase described in [2], well out into the Pacific and away from populated islands by that point. Hawaii's last hurricane landfall was Iniki in 1992, a Category 4 storm that killed six people and caused $3bn in damage on Kauai, according to [1]. Forecasters noted this year's strong El Niño, warming Pacific waters in ways that can help storms intensify, as a possible contributing factor, according to [1]. What to watch next: whether the NHC's later advisories confirm Lala's Category 4 peak and revised death toll from [2], and whether Hawaii County or state officials issue an updated, reconciled casualty figure.