Hurricane Lowell brought fierce winds, heavy rain and dangerous surf to Hawaiʻi on Monday night, with Kauaʻi and Niʻihau seeing the most severe impacts. By Tuesday morning, the hurricane had moved west of the Islands, leaving widespread damage in its wake.
On Kauaʻi, homes, businesses and roads were damaged, with power outages reported across the island. Flooding and high stream levels forced the closure of Kūhiō Highway near the Hanalei Bridge, and portions of Kaumualiʻi Highway were also closed as crews began assessing damage.
On Oʻahu’s Leeward Side, Farrington Highway experienced flooding and debris buildup, and the highway was temporarily closed after high surf washed sand onto the roadway.
Lowell comes just over three weeks after Hurricane Lala brought strong winds, torrential rain and widespread flooding to the Islands before weakening to a tropical storm. Lala passed just south of Hawaiʻi Island as a Category 1 hurricane and caused extensive damage in Kaʻū.
There, flooding and landslides damaged homes and roads and disrupted essential services. At least 100 homes in the district were damaged during Lala and hundreds of property damage reports continue to come in.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve watched our communities support each other by clearing debris, distributing food and water, delivering supplies, and checking on those most affected by the storms. That’s what we do in Hawaiʻi: In times of trouble, we help our neighbors, local businesses and communities.
The community in Kaʻū continues to recover from Hurricane Lala, and families are still in need of basic supplies and assistance. The Hawaiʻi Mutual Aid Network, a grassroots, volunteer-run organization, helps connect donors with local families affected by Lala—and now Lowell. The organization diligently vets individual fundraisers submitted by affected families and community members and compiles them into a public list.
You can view the organization’s list of verified fundraisers here.
Among the most severely affected local businesses is the Punaluʻu Bake Shop, which was still recovering from Lala when Lowell hit. Since 1991, the beloved bakery has been a destination for locals and visitors alike, famed for its pillowy sweet bread. Known as the southernmost bake shop in the U.S., the bakery welcomes up to 200,000 visitors year.
But Hurricane Lala caused extensive damage to the place, including triggering a landslide that buried the property in debris. As the bakery works toward reopening, a GoFundMe account has been set up to provide direct assistance to its employees and their families. Before Lala, the bakeshop employed more than 50 residents, many of whom had spent decades with the business.
Mahalo to all of the volunteers and organizations working behind the scenes to help Hawai‘i recover. Our support systems make us strong, and the actions of those volunteers and organizations are carrying our communities through difficult times.
Grace Maeda is the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.
