Tropical Storm Lala begins lashing Hawaii’s Big Island

A hurricane warning is in effect for Hawaii’s Big Island as Tropical Storm Lala approaches. The storm is expected to strengthen and bring extremely heavy rain, flooding, and life-threatening surf and rip currents to the Hawaiian Islands this weekend, forecasters say.

The National Hurricane Center said Friday that hurricane conditions are expected to hit Hawaii by Saturday local time. The core of Lala will pass the Big Island on Saturday, then reach south of the smaller islands on Sunday, the NHC said Saturday. 

“This is a very serious storm,” Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said in a news briefing Friday night. “We have not had a hurricane make landfall in quite some time. So none of us really have experienced this really in, you know, the last couple of decades.”

Green said Hawaii will see “an incredible amount of water,” warning residents and visitors to prepare for heavy flooding and the possibility of major power outages. 

“We’re hoping that it’s going to be sufficiently far south that we just get the periphery of the storm, but, no promises, we’ve seen storms turn,” Green said.  

National Weather Service warning coordination meteorologist John Bravender noted that the storm’s wind field is large.

“Even though the track shows it passing south of the islands, the tropical storm force winds will extend north and could impact all the islands,” Bravender told reporters. 

The last hurricane to make landfall in Hawaii was Hurricane Iniki in 1992, which struck as a powerful Category 4. Iniki was responsible for six deaths and $3 billion in damage, Green said. 

Maps show storm warnings, path

In a worst-case scenario, Lala could dump 25 inches of rain onto the Big Island, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said.

What’s more, Lala could produce a storm surge as high as 3 feet along the coast, along with large waves and life-threatening rip current conditions.

In addition to the hurricane warning for the Big Island of Hawaii, a tropical storm warning is in place for Maui County — including the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe — Oahu and Kauai County, which includes the islands of Kauai and Ni’ihau.

Hurricane conditions are forecast for the Big Island on Saturday, the hurricane center said, with tropical storm conditions expected in Maui County by Saturday night. Tropical storm conditions are possible in Oahu and Kauai County by Sunday morning.  

“We’re not exempt from these extreme weather conditions. So we’ve been here before, and messages have already gone out. But this could look like a big one,” Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda told CBS News Friday morning. Hawaii County encompasses the Big Island, where the storm is expected to hit hardest.

Alameda noted that the greatest threats from the storm will vary for people in different parts of the island. 

“If you live close to the shoreline, then it’s high surf. If you live in a different area, could be high winds. But you know, there’s also flooding involved too. So they’re aware and messages went out. And now we’re just bracing ourselves, preparing,” he said.

The Miami-based hurricane center warned that wind speeds could be significantly higher in elevated areas and on the windward sides of slopes and mountains.

In the hurricane center’s latest advisory Saturday morning local time, Lala was located about 140 miles southeast of South Point, Hawaii — the southernmost point of the Big Island — and 350 miles southeast of Honolulu. It was moving west-northwest at 13 mph. It had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph, with higher gusts. A tropical storm becomes a hurricane when its maximum sustained winds reach 74 mph.

Lala’s center was forecast to move near the South Point of the Big Island on Saturday, then south of the smaller islands on Sunday, the hurricane center said. 

Lala is “expected to produce rainfall totals of 8 to 12 inches across Maui and the Big Island with maximum totals of 25 inches possible across the Big Island,” the hurricane center said, along with “rainfall totals of 4 to 6 inches with maximum amounts of 8 inches” across the rest of the islands. “This rainfall may produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain,” the forecasters warned.

Hawaii braces for impact

Green declared a state of emergency Thursday anticipating Lala’s arrival. His proclamation activated potential disaster relief funds and directed “all state agencies and officers to cooperate and extend their services, materials, and facilities as may be required to assist in emergency response efforts.”

On Friday, the state announced that its National Guard was prepared to support emergency response efforts. The Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources has been working to clear streams and other potential flood zones. 

The National Park Service announced that most areas of Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island would close to visitors by Friday afternoon ahead of the storm’s arrival. The Hawaii Department of Education said all school-sponsored extracurricular activities over the weekend are canceled. It has not been decided if schools will open on Monday.