Hawaii officials linked one death on Monday to Tropical Storm Lala after a woman reported missing from Naalehu on the Big Island was found dead. Authorities did not immediately release further information about her or how she died.The death was confirmed a day after Governor Josh Green said no one was believed to have died when about 100 homes were swept from their foundations and washed away on the Big Island. Authorities have since said no one is believed to be missing following the destruction.Lala had been a hurricane while approaching Hawaii but weakened to tropical-storm strength on Sunday as it moved past the islands without making landfall. Heavy rain and winds brought down trees from downtown Honolulu to the Big Island and triggered flash floods.The storm continued moving west away from Hawaii and was expected to regain hurricane strength over open water, far from land, by Wednesday.
Southern Big Island communities remain cut off
Collapsed roads, debris and communication failures continued to isolate several communities in the hard-hit southern end of the Big Island as officials assessed the damage.Jeanné Kapela, a state representative whose Kau district includes some of the affected areas, said the district was “in shambles”.Punaluu, a community of about 100 households known for its black-sand beach, was among the places cut off, the Associated Press reported.With power and mobile phone service unavailable in some areas, Kapela was trying to arrange satellite internet connections for residents.Kapela said the damage had hit a rural part of Hawaii that receives far less attention than tourist destinations such as Lahaina and Waikiki. She noted that the area includes the southernmost point in the United States.”That’s the community that got hit. And it’s probably one of the most rural communities in the entire country,” she said.Green said he expected access to the affected communities to be restored within days rather than weeks.Flooding also damaged burial grounds in Naalehu. Kapela said two cemeteries had been “washed out”.Green asked people to respect the affected burial sites after floodwaters displaced iwi kupuna, the Hawaiian term for sacred ancestral skeletal remains of Native Hawaiians.Tom Callis, an official with Hawaii County, said the affected cemetery areas had been cordoned off and no work was taking place there.
Cleanup begins as outages persist
Crews repaired bridges and cleared fallen trees on Monday, while motorists were urged to use alternative routes.Public schools across Hawaii, along with some private schools and state offices, remained closed on Monday. Schools and county offices on the Big Island were to stay closed on Tuesday.More than 117,000 Hawaiian Electric customers remained without power after winds brought down trees, utility poles and transmission towers. The utility described damage to the Big Island’s power transmission system as “extensive”.Emergency communications were also disrupted. The 911 emergency number on the Big Island temporarily went out of service after the storm affected radio and telephone communications, the Hawaii Police Department said. Service was restored by Monday afternoon, though some disruptions persisted.Green said the recovery would be “somewhat brisk”. “And in spite of this loss of one beautiful person,” he said, referring to the storm-related death, “it could have been a lot worse.”
Lala moves west, surf and landslide risks remain
Laupahoehoe, on the northeast coast of the Big Island, recorded about 1.1 metres of rain, the highest measured total from the storm.The strongest gusts were recorded atop Mauna Kea at 225kmph. At lower elevations across the island chain, winds reached 48-64kmph, with gusts of up to 97kmph, National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Blood said.Hawaii had no coastal watches or warnings in effect on Monday, according to the National Hurricane Center, but dangerous surf and rip currents remained.People were also advised to avoid brown or murky coastal waters.The heavy rain left the ground saturated, keeping the risk of landslides in some areas, although winds were no longer considered a threat.“There’s no real looming hazards that we’re facing now,” Blood said. “Lala’s off to the west.”Federal officials have pledged recovery help. US Senator Brian Schatz said he had discussed federal support with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and urged approval of an expected emergency funding request for debris clearance and repairs to damaged roads and highways.
