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A Kauai shrimp farm is racing to save 120,000 pounds of shrimp after Hurricane Lowell knocked out its power
The storm caused widespread damage, destroying structures, crops, and leaving parts of the farm inaccessible due to downed power lines
Officials estimate the storm caused hundreds of millions in damage, with recovery efforts ongoing across the island
Aloun Farms, a farm on Kauai in Hawaii, is in a race against time to save roughly 120,000 pounds of shrimp after Hurricane Lowell knocked out its power.
The storm cut power to the shrimp operation in Kauai, which depends on aeration systems to keep its pond water oxygenated, according to Hawaii News Now. Without power, the shrimp have about 48 hours before they could begin dying, the farm’s managing director, Lisiate Heimuli, told the outlet.
“With lack of power now, it’s a race against time for us,” Heimuli explained. The farm has been scrambling to keep about 20 of its 40 shrimp ponds operating while crews work to bring in generators. “We are in constant contact trying to get generators here on site and trying to get plugged in,” he said.
Aerial view of large circular shrimp water tanksCredit: Hawaii News Now/Youtube
The operation leases about 2,500 acres on Kauai, where Lowell tore through agricultural fields and flattened structures.
“Our mechanic shop is no longer standing,” Heimuli said, adding that tarps were also blown away. “Our main office is no longer standing.”
Heimuli noted that about 95% of the farm’s first and second banana plantings were lost, and potentially its third as well. The bananas had been expected to be harvested around December.
Some parts of the property remain too dangerous to reach, with power lines still down in the fields, leaving the full extent of the farm’s losses unknown. The company has warned its retail partners that shipments could be delayed indefinitely.
The farm’s plight is one piece of a much larger recovery effort across Kauai, where Lowell knocked out power to roughly 80% of the island. According to CNN, the storm has been blamed for at least two deaths in Hawaii.
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On Kauai, officials said a 74-year-old man died, most likely because of storm surge, though an investigation is ongoing. On Oahu, a man died after a tree fell on the tent he was living in, Gov. Josh Green said.
Green told CNN the storm likely caused “hundreds of millions of dollars” in damage. Officials expect the overall destruction to be the worst Hawaii has seen since Hurricane Iniki, the Category 4 storm that devastated Kauai in 1992.
With tourism the island’s top economic driver, the Hawaii Tourism Authority had urged travelers with upcoming Kauai plans to reschedule or shift to another island rather than cancel their trips altogether as the island focuses on recovery.
Per Hawaii News Now, Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) is inspecting transmission lines critical to the island’s power grid. It would need to restore them before distributing power to individual circuits.
Patrick Blood, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Honolulu, told that outlet that the islands could have “another month, month and a half, maybe two months” of potential storm activity.
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