Hurricane Lala skirts Big Island
Heavy wind, rain lash region as storm avoids landfall
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Hurricane Lala weakened Sunday to a tropical storm after raking Hawaii without making landfall, its heavy rains and winds strong enough to sweep around 100 homes off their foundations on the Big Island, officials said.
Gov. Josh Green said no one is believed to have died when the homes washed away. Earlier, a search-and-rescue mission was launched in the coastal communities of Na'alehu and Wai'ohinu, near the Big Island's southern tip.
He spoke at a news conference as the storm continued to punish the islands with strong gusts and pounding rain, reaching a total of nearly three feet in places.
Cynthia Channels, a local organizer who works with unhoused people and families in need, has been driving around Oahu in her pickup truck, assessing damage. For her, the wind has been the worst part of the storm.
"The winds are really bad, people's shingles are falling off the roofs," Channels said.
Green said its not clear if a vehicle wreck that killed one person Saturday in the South Point area of the Big Island was storm related.
Honolulu, on Oahu, was bearing the brunt of the tropical storm conditions spreading westward over the island chain. The Honolulu Fire Department had received more than 600 weather-related responses by noon local time Sunday, including 147 reports of downed trees. There were also roofs blown off, downed power lines and one swimmer who had to be rescued, a city statement said.
Much of the state remained under a flash flood warning, though the National Hurricane Center downgraded the Big Island to a flood advisory Sunday.
"Basically, the best thing to do right now is just stay home for a bit longer," weather service meteorologist Stephen Parker 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."