More than 180,000 utility customers remained without power across Hawaii on Sunday afternoon after Hurricane Lala brushed the Big Island before being downgraded to a tropical storm.
Some 183,123 customers across Hawaii were without power as of 3:30pm local time, according to poweroutage.us.
Outages in Oahu, the most populated island, had dropped from more than 220,000 to about 130,000 as of Sunday morning, state officials said during a press conference.
State officials received reports of at least 100 homes damaged, Hawaii Governor Josh Green said on Sunday.
At 2pm, Lala was moving west towards southwest Kauai County at about 31km/h, with maximum sustained winds near 105km/h, just below the hurricane threshold of 119km/h, according to the latest advisory from the National Hurricane Center.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect for Kauai county, although those warnings for Maui and Oahu counties were discontinued earlier on Sunday, according to the hurricane centre. The weather agency’s projections indicated that if the storm remained on its expected path, it should be clear of Hawaii’s islands by 8am local time.
Hawaiian Electric had warned customers on Saturday evening that repair efforts were being hampered as hurricane-force winds toppled trees and rain flooded roadways.
Lala had battered parts of Hawaii with flash floods “like we’ve never seen”, a state official said.
State officials also urged residents to stay indoors after at least one person was reported dead in a car-related accident.
“It’s not a day to go to the beach,” one official said during a press conference on Sunday morning.
Video released by the Hawaii Department of Transportation showed floodwaters overtaking roads. Two homes were swept away, according to the National Weather Service.
About 117 people were in shelters as of Sunday morning, officials said.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation said all airports had reopened, but state officials advised travellers to check with their airlines for updates.