HAWAII COUNTY, Hawaii (Island News) — As Hawaii Island residents work to rebuild after Hurricane Lala, they also prepare for another storm.
Some Hawaii Island communities greatly impacted by Lala, like Naalehu, are still slowly recovering five weeks after the hurricane hit.
“That main road that leads to the cemetery, which is between the Punaluʻu Bakery as well as Ace Hardware, so it’s right in the business center of the town, is still covered with debris. In some areas, over nine feet deep of debris, sediment, and mud that is being cleared,” said Hawaii County Civil Defense Acting Administrator Darryl Oliviera.
As Hawaii Island residents work to rebuild after Hurricane Lala, they also prepare for another storm. Some Hawaii Island communities greatly impacted by Lala, like Naalehu, are still slowly recovering five weeks after the hurricane hit.
Additional showers will slow the restoration work there and at Naalehu cemetery.
“Anytime there’s a rain event, we suspend all operations because it’s too dangerous and hazardous to be in there,” added Oliviera.
Zed Aki, an Ocean View resident, says he was lucky the storm only toppled trees on his property but didn’t damage his home. He is glad to see residents coming together to restore and rebuild Kau communities.
“It’s been very hopeful. But we all we also know that, you know, this is that Super El Niño and it’s an extended hurricane season. So, you know, we’re in this kind of ever-persistent survival mode. This mode to to continue to prepare,” stated Aki.
Now, there is another storm on the horizon. That could potentially bring more heavy rain to those hard hit areas of Hawaii Island.
“I think the greatest fear is that it’ll undo a lot of the the restoration and rebuilding,” said Aki.
There is another fear that comes with another tropical cyclone. All the rain, runoff and debris from Hurricane Lala seemed to create new flow paths for water, leaving emergency planners wondering what will happen in the next storm.
“We’re definitely concerned. Do we have residents, infrastructure, businesses now in paths of potential flooding that previously hadn’t experienced flooding or at least to that magnitude?” asked Oliviera.
He asked the Corps of Engineers to conduct a hydrological assessment of what has changed, so they will know what areas will be at risk for different types of flooding.
Meanwhile Aki says residents ask for lessons learned from Lala to be used to prepare communities for future storms.
“We’re drafting a letter to the government on behalf of Ka’u right now to let them know that that we need help. That we need these lessons to be learned from and that we need action,” added Aki.
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