Communities in Hawai'i count the cost of Lala as new storm threatens

Communities across Hawaiʻi are still clearing mud, debris and damaged roads after Hurricane Lala struck the American state this week.

But there is already another storm threat building in the Pacific.

Lala has moved away from the main Hawaiian Islands and strengthened into a major Category 3 hurricane, with winds of about 120mph, as it heads towards the remote north-western Hawaiian islands.

On the Big Island, the focus is now on communities hit hardest by flooding, landslides and powerful winds.

State Representative Jeanné Kapela, from the southern Kaʻū district, says the damage has left communities struggling to reconnect.

“My district is in shambles,” Kapela told the Associated Press.

Hawaiʻi State Representative Jeanné Kapela says communities in the southern Kaʻū district have been left struggling after Hurricane Lala caused widespread damage and cut road and communication links. Photo/civilbeat.org

Roads were washed out or blocked by debris, leaving some communities cut off. Two cemeteries in Nāʻālehu were also washed out, while Kapela worked to get satellite internet to areas without power or mobile phone service.

“Most people when you think of Hawaii, you think of Lahaina or you think of Waikiki,” Kapela said. “You don’t necessarily think of the southern point of the United States, but at the end of the day, we are 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.”

Residents and emergency crews work to clear roads and repair damage after Hurricane Lala battered parts of Hawaiʻi with heavy rain, strong winds and flooding. Photo/Facebook/Kona Hispanic Sda

Deborah Funai Brown, a Pāhala resident, says the storm has exposed just how vulnerable isolated communities can be.

“We’ve always been stuck in the middle of nowhere so you kind of feel forgotten about when you’re out here, like you’re on an island by yourself,” Brown told CNN's local affiliate KHNL/KGMB.

Floodwaters caused major damage to the Pāhala Highway, cutting access to parts of the area and leaving up to 2500 people trapped, according to CNN Newsource. More than 100 homes were damaged or lost across Hawaiʻi.

The storm has also claimed at least two lives, according to the AP. A 93-year-old woman was found dead after being reported missing in Nāʻālehu, while a man in his 60s was later found dead near a highway.

Power is another major challenge. About 19,000 customers remained without electricity on Wednesday, with Hawaiian Electric crews continuing repairs. Earlier in the recovery, more than 200,000 homes and businesses had lost power.

Watch Joseph Ashley's video on his family's experiene at Oceanview Ranchos during Hurricane Lala.

On Oʻahu, community organiser Cynthia Channels has been checking on families and people in need. “The winds are really bad, people’s shingles are falling off the roofs,” she told the AP.

Now residents are being told to keep watching the weather.

The National Hurricane Center is monitoring another system developing south-east of Hawaiʻi.

Conditions could allow a tropical depression to form towards the end of the week or over the weekend as the system moves west towards the central Pacific.

For communities still trying to reopen roads, restore power and repair homes, the warning from authorities comes before the recovery from Lala is complete.