Lowell batteres Hawaii, thousands left in the dark

When the sky opened up on Tuesday morning, the western Hawaiian islands suddenly felt the full force of Hurricane Lowell. Gusts howled above 80 mph in places, rain hammered the ground at a relentless pace, and whole neighborhoods woke up to the eerie silence of a power outage.

On Kauai – the island home to roughly 73,000 people – the damage was especially stark. The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative reported that, within hours, nearly every one of its members was left in the dark. By early afternoon, the independent tracker PowerOutage.us logged about 42,000 customers without electricity across the state.

Rainfall totals read like a nightmare for meteorologists. The tiny community of Hanalei, perched on Kauai’s northern coast, had already recorded a staggering 17.76 inches of rain, and some spots were projected to see up to 24 inches by nightfall. Those numbers are the kind that turn roads into rivers and trigger the kind of flash floods that can turn a quiet street into a dangerous torrent in minutes.

And the roads? Boulders, fallen trees and debris littered the highways, effectively cutting off entire neighborhoods. CBS footage showed a waterfront home ripped from its foundation and thrust across the street – a jarring visual that underscored just how powerful Lowell’s on‑shore surge was.

“It was actually pretty scary,” said Dave Reed, a tourist who was in town for a wedding. “I always said I wanted to ride out a hurricane, but I’d never want to do it again.” He added that they had a chance to evacuate but chose to stay, a decision he now regrets.

For residents like Andrew Davis Henry, the storm’s impact went beyond inconvenience. Henry, who lives with diabetes, worried about keeping his insulin cold. “I need that to live,” he told reporters, noting that both power and cell service were down, leaving him isolated and anxious.

Emergency officials urged people to stay off the streets while crews began clearing debris and assessing damage. Elton Ushio, administrator of the local emergency management agency, cautioned, “As the light comes up and the extent of the damage from Hurricane Lowell comes into focus, we want to ensure that no additional emergency situations arise unnecessarily.”

By late Tuesday morning, the storm’s eye had moved west of the islands, and tropical‑storm‑force winds were still sweeping across the area, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Sustained winds at Lihue Airport measured just over 50 mph, while gusts topped 80 mph in spots.

Hurricane warnings for Kauai and the tiny island of Niihau – home to fewer than 100 permanent residents – were lifted early Tuesday. The tropical‑storm warning for Oahu, Hawaii’s most populated island with nearly a million people, was also lifted, but officials warned that flood and mudslide risks would linger throughout the day.

State Governor Josh Green pre‑emptively closed schools and government offices on Kauai, Oahu, Maui and the Big Island for Tuesday, hoping to keep residents out of harm’s way while crews worked on road clear‑ups and utility repairs.

Looking ahead, the hurricane center warned that additional rain could trigger “significant flash flooding and mudslides” across low‑lying and urban areas, especially on the Big Island. The storm, now classified as a Category 1 with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph, is expected to continue weakening as it drifts northward at about 15 mph.

For many Hawaiians, the immediate concern is restoring power and access to clean water. For others, the looming threat of landslides – a painful memory from last month’s Hurricane Lala, which washed away roughly 100 homes – is still very real.

As crews labor to clear sand and rocks from Oahu’s coastal highway north of Honolulu, the island community watches, waits, and hopes that the worst of Lowell’s fury has passed, even as rain continues to fall.