A reporter with Hawaii News Now has described a “wild” night as Hurricane Lowell passed by, with power out on Tuesday morning and some oceanfront houses destroyed.
The US National Weather Service has lifted all warnings related to the storm, although it said swells from Lowell will continue to generate life-threatening surf and rip current conditions during the next few days across many of the Hawaiian Islands.
There’s also still a threat of flash flooding.
Dillon Ancheta, a Kauai local, said they are breathing a sigh of relief now the worst has passed.
“Last night was a wild ride for our island,” he told RNZ Pacific on Tuesday morning local time (Wednesday NZT).
“The hardest-hit island was Kauai.
“We know that the south-facing and west-facing shores got hit really hard. We were hunkered down in the Kalapaki area, which is a little bit southeast, and we still have seen some damage here.
“We’re doing damage assessments right now, and power poles in our main town have come down. Some were snapped in half, and much of the island is without electricity and cell service.
“We’ve seen pictures of some oceanfront homes along the south-facing shores just completely destroyed.”
Ancheta said it’s unclear when power would be restored, as there is extensive damage to the grid.
He said the ocean was still very rocky and wild mid-morning.
“The ground is very saturated, so it won’t take much rain, if more rain comes down, to cause flooding, especially based off of the topography and geography of our land. Our island, Mount Waiʻaleʻale is in the centre of it, and all of the rain that collects there really just floods outward, like from the centre of a circle. And so low-lying areas should definitely remain vigilant in the coming days.
“The weather right now, it’s nice skies; the winds are still breezy, with some passing showers. Of course, it’s going to be focused on recovery here for our communities and also our team on the ground reporting.”
Images of damage in Hanapēpē, Hawaii, following Hurricane Lowell.
Annabelle Le Jeune
Ancheta said they have seen people out on the streets checking on each other.
“A lot of people have been making their way on small bikes, golf carts, cars even if they have gas and are driving around.
“The people of this island, they’re usually pretty happy, they’re kind, they know how to check on their neighbors, and so it’s a good feeling right now.
“Obviously, the communities that were hit harder, they’re a little bit more worried, but they can rest easy knowing that their neighbors will be taking care of them.”
In an update at 11am local time, the weather service said Hurricane Lowell was moving north at around 24 kilometres per hour..
“This general motion is forecast through today, taking the core of Lowell farther from Kauai County. Lowell is then forecast to turn toward the northwest and west and slow down on Wednesday and Thursday after passing the main Hawaiian Islands.”
It said the storm’s maximum sustained winds were down to around 120km/h, with higher gusts, and gradual weakening is forecast during the next few days.
