Lala strengthens into a hurricane and bears down on Hawaii's Big Island with heavy rain, winds

Hawaii’s Big Island was threatened Saturday with its first possible direct hit from a hurricane in 155 years as Hurricane Lala roared in the Pacific Ocean and gusty wind, waves and rain pounded the region.

The National Hurricane Center said Lala’s maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph (120 kph), making it a Category 1 hurricane. The eyewall was forecast to move over or near the island’s southern end by the evening, lashing its worst winds at volcanic slopes thousands of feet above sea level.

Gov. Josh Green, noting rainfall of 2 inches (5 centimeters) an hour, said “people should be sheltering in place now.”

Forecasters said higher elevations on the island, dominated by the towering Mauna Kea volcano, could get as much as 25 inches (63.5 centimeters) of rain. That could cause life-threatening mudslides in a mountainous area where people live off the grid in improvised housing.

Earlier the governor called it an “enormous storm,” capable of destructive flooding and even the possibility of wildfires kicked up by strong winds across the island chain. Electricity was knocked out for nearly 20% of customers on the Big Island, according to poweroutage.us.

Residents prepare for the worst

Bobby Camara, a 75-year-old lifelong resident, said he planned to “hunker down, cross my fingers, hope the lights don’t go out” at a care home just outside Hilo. He said gas stations were busy as people sought fuel for chain saws and vehicles.

“I think stocking up is part of life over here. ... You learn to be self-reliant,” Camara said.

Mike Caputo, who lives in Keaau, near the Big Island's east coast, said his power generator was ready and a 10,000-gallon (37.8 kiloliter) home water tank was full. He said the main concern was flash flooding and fallen trees, especially albizia, a common tree.

“They’re not very sturdy, but they grow extremely large,” said Caputo, 50, a local fire captain. “They can make roads impassable."

Warnings posted everywhere

The Big Island was under a hurricane warning, and tropical storm warnings were issued for the islands of Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau.

A Category 3 hurricane hit the northeast corner of the Big Island in 1871, according to research by a University of Hawaii atmospheric scientist. The latest forecast has Lala striking “very close to the southern tip of the Big Island,” said Vanessa Almanza, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Honolulu.

Shelters were opened, events were canceled and ranchers were urged to leave their cattle in pastures, rather than structures that might collapse. “It doesn’t take landfall to create destruction,” Almanza said.

Indeed, Christine Matsuda, who lives in Waimea, on the northern side of the island, said “big gusts every few minutes rattle the whole house.”

“We're finding unexpected leaks in places that don't see water under normal conditions,” Matsuda said.

The hurricane center predicted 8 to 12 inches (20.3 to 30.5 centimeters) of total rainfall across Maui and the lower elevations of the Big Island, and 4 to 6 inches (10.2 to 15.2 centimeters) across the island chain. Many Hawaii residents are still dealing with the aftermath of devastating floods in March.

Wildfire risks increase during windy weather

As winds ramped up across the islands, Almanza said dry and breezy conditions outside the storm would elevate fire concerns.

In 2023 the Maui town of Lahaina burned during extreme winds as a hurricane passed far to the south.

“Since the fire, everybody is way more aware of weather in general and our environment and things that are happening,” said Archie Kalepa of Lahaina, who is known in the area for his surfing, paddling and other ocean skills.

Kauai, which is several islands northwest up the archipelago from the Big Island, is where Hurricane Iniki made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane in 1992 — an El Nino year like this one, when a warming of the Pacific near the equator increases Pacific hurricane activity and affects weather patterns across the globe.

“It did $3 billion worth of damage. It destroyed thousands of homes, and it did kill six people,” said Steven Businger, a University of Hawaii scientist. “We just can never know if a storm is going to turn.”