The Hawaiian Islands this year are no stranger to severe storms. For months, officials have been dealing with the damage from downpours that drenched the state in March and caused what the governor said was some of the worst flooding the state has experienced in two decades.
But this week officials were forced to turn their attention to Lala as the storm barreled over the Pacific toward the Big Island, with heavy rain and dangerous gusting winds forecast.
“We are a remote island in the middle of Pacific, so things take awhile around here, and these are damaging conditions for the island,” said Vanessa Almanza, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
The March storms were Kona lows, seasonal storms in Hawaii that move slowly, leading to heavy rainfall over one location for an extended stretch of time. The storms toppled trees, debris obstructed highways and residents lost power, Gov. Josh Green wrote in a March letter to President Trump requesting a major disaster declaration.
Schools closed, cars were submerged and homes were swept away. Thousands were evacuated on the North Shore of Oahu, where flooding was especially severe. The island is Hawaii’s most populous and home to its state capital, Honolulu.
In March, a federal inspector recorded four feet of muddy water filling Aiden Hoy’s home in Haleiwa, on the North Shore of Oahu, she said. Five of the six cars on her property were totaled after being engulfed by floodwater. Ms. Hoy, her husband and her housemates went days without the ability to safely consume running water or have power.
In the process of repairing their home, Ms. Hoy and her husband have elevated appliances on their ground floor. Having a washer and dryer atop cinder blocks is their “new normal,” she said. Some outlets now lie several feet higher on the wall.
Ahead of Lala, Ms. Hoy secured a generator since she was mostly concerned about losing power. She also stocked up on water bottles.
“I mean, I think we’re kind of as prepared as we can be,” she said Saturday. “We’re kind of just sitting and waiting, really, and taking it, like, hour by hour,.” On Friday, Jesse Lovett was monitoring Lala with an app and radar loops from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Mr. Lovett, a retired boat captain and lifelong resident of Waialua, on Oahu, is still in the process of repairing his home after it flooded twice during the Kona lows.
The strongest winds have stretched across the Big Island closest to the hurricane, said John Bravender, a meteorologist with the Weather Service, while Oahu is under a tropical storm warning.
Mr. Lovett on Saturday said he was not feeling concerned about the storm.
“At this point, it’s just a rainy day on Oahu,” he said. “Everyone’s still out getting coffee. People are still moving around in the harbor.”
In the March letter, Mr. Green estimated statewide damages to possibly exceed $1 billion. The storm also caused snow to fall on the Big Island’s two tallest mountains, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.
Claire Wilcox contributed reporting from the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
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