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Going forward, the climate challenges for residents as well as visitors are expected to grow.<\/p>\n
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Jean LaTorre, who runs the North-Shore Farm Stand in\u00a0Waialua, Hawaii, says he wishes the state and regional government would move more quickly to protect communities from natural disasters.<\/p>\n
Kurtis Alexander\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually, it\u2019s very peaceful here,\u201d said Jasmine Lucero, who was helping clean up what was left of her mother\u2019s flooded home this week in the North Shore community of Haleiwa, a hub of big wave surfing. \u201cDuring the rainy season, you have to be on guard. Growing up here, there were a lot of close calls. But this is the worst it\u2019s ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Scientists have been warning about the increasing volatility of Hawaii\u2019s climate. While it can be difficult to disentangle the effects of fossil fuel-driven warming from the natural variability of the tropics, studies suggest that many of the state\u2019s recent weather events wouldn\u2019t have been as severe without rising temperatures. Sea level rise, another major climate threat to the islands, is compounding flooding problems in coastal areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a lot of ways, Hawaii and other Pacific islands are on the front lines of climate change,\u201d said Abby Frazier, a climatologist at Clark University in Massachusetts, who previously worked in Hawaii and led the federal government\u2019s climate assessment of the region. \u201cThe extreme events will get a lot worse. That\u2019s what we see in the climate models.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hawaii has warmed about 2 degrees Fahrenheit since 1950, while becoming drier, which partially explains the conditions that drove the 2023 Maui firestorm that killed more than 100 people in the storied tourist town of Lahaina. Changes in farming and vegetation in recent decades were also major factors in the blaze.<\/p>\n
Even with the drier weather, the rain that does fall on the islands stands to be more intense, because a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture. Frazier explains the phenomenon using the analogy of a tipping bucket at a children\u2019s park: \u201cThe size of the bucket is getting bigger,\u201d she said, and may not tip and drop water as often, \u201cbut when we get rain, there\u2019s more rain in the bucket to spill.\u201d<\/p>\n
This month, more than 30 inches of rain fell over two weeks in parts of Hawaii as a pair of slow-moving, wet weather systems known as Kona lows pounded the islands.<\/p>\n
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Myla Grace Zara, 16, takes a break from searching through her flood-damaged home in Haleiwa, Hawaii, this month. Zara and her family were trapped on their roof during the flooding that came with recent storms.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
The widespread flooding, most destructive on Oahu\u2019s North Shore and portions of Maui, was the state\u2019s worst in two decades. Hundreds of people were rescued from rushing waters, homes were lifted away by overflowing streams, and roads and bridges were torn up. Hawaii\u00a0Gov. Josh Green has estimated $1 billion in damages.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecovery costs are often higher on the islands, where rebuilding and materials are more expensive than on the mainland,\u201d explained AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jonathan Porter, who estimates that the total financial hit, counting business losses, is closer to $2 billion. \u201cThe timing of the storms during peak spring break travel amplified the economic toll.\u201d<\/p>\n
Disasters like this one commonly keep vacationers at bay, at least temporarily. Several reports suggest that tourism, which makes up nearly a quarter of the state\u2019s economy, will be increasingly upended as the warming climate causes more disruption.<\/p>\n
After the fire in\u00a0Lahaina, visitation plunged on Maui. Local officials initially urged out-of-towners to stay clear, but even after they began welcoming back travelers, would-be tourists remained hesitant \u2014 some to this day \u2014 because of uncertainty about vacationing near a disaster site. On Oahu, flooding in 2022 and a storm-driven landslide in 2019 also prompted more minor travel issues.<\/p>\n
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This past week, even as blue skies returned to the North Shore and floodwaters began to recede, Haleiwa\u2019s main drag was quieter than usual. At Matsumoto Shave Ice, where tourists sometimes wait 45 minutes for cones of ice soaked in flavored syrup, no one was in line.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, it would be 10 times as busy as it is, easily,\u201d said Carol Philips, vice chair of the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, which operates a visitor information center in downtown Haleiwa.<\/p>\n
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A bible is covered in mud from floodwaters in\u00a0Haleiwa, Hawaii, this month.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
Philips said disasters like the recent flooding are often overblown on social media as Instagram and TikTok users focus on the worst damage and the platforms magnify the posts. Consequently, she said, visitors are sometimes misinformed about the gravity of an event and its scope.<\/p>\n
Still, Philips acknowledged that severe weather seems to be intensifying on the island: \u201cWe\u2019re in one extreme, then another,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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While the small towns on the North Shore are open again for business, the region\u2019s famed coastline remains choked with muddy stormwater. Its celebrated surf breaks, including those that host the Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational, known as \u201cThe Eddie,\u201d with its 40-foot faces, are far from normal.<\/p>\n
The Hawaii Department of Health issued a \u201cbrown water advisory\u201d for Oahu, advising people to avoid the ocean.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be a long time before we\u2019re back in the water,\u201d said Hunter Sato, manager of the Haleiwa surf shop, Surf N Sea, who is usually out every day catching waves or steering visitors to breaks. \u201cThis is the best time of year to surf.\u201d<\/p>\n
The costs of climate change in Hawaii, from losses tied to beach closures to the expense of hardening infrastructure, while tough to quantify, are expected to be steep. The federal government\u2019s Fifth National Climate Assessment, published in 2023, estimates the tab to reach between 3% and 13% of the state\u2019s gross domestic product by the end of the century.<\/p>\n
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Water from the Wahiawa Dam flows into the Kaukonahua River in\u00a0Wahiawa, Hawaii, after storms battered the state this month.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lam\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
A dam on Oahu has become a symbol of that high price. During the recent storms, Honolulu emergency officials warned that the privately owned Wahiawa Dam, which holds water high above the North Shore, was at risk of \u201cimminent failure\u201d and ordered thousands of people downstream to evacuate.<\/p>\n
The state had previously estimated that the 120-year-old facility needed at least $21 million in upgrades to expand the spillway and meet safety regulations. State officials have been looking to buy the dam from the Dole Food Co., which historically used water from the operation to grow pineapples. On Friday, Dole announced it is\u00a0transferring the dam to state control<\/a> at no cost.\u00a0<\/p>\nLeah Laramee, the state\u2019s climate change mitigation and adaptation coordinator, said in an interview that Hawaii is doing all it can to confront the climate crisis. She has little doubt that global warming played a role in the recent flooding, and she noted that the state\u2019s extensive coastline, varied terrain and tropical climate make it particularly vulnerable to extreme weather and its impacts.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally we just need to get (more) work started,\u201d Laramee said.<\/p>\n
Like California, Hawaii has pursued relatively aggressive climate policies. They include both reducing the state\u2019s planet-warming pollution, with a goal of net-negative emissions by 2045, and increasing the resiliency of forests, watersheds and infrastructure.<\/p>\n
This year, Hawaii enacted a first-of-its kind climate tax on visitors, or \u201cgreen fee,\u201d which raises the tax on overnight stays to help fund efforts to prepare and adapt to the warming climate. The fee, expected to generate $100 million annually, extends to stays on cruise ships.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate change is becoming more and more of a pressing issue, and the costs are high,\u201d Laramee said. This month\u2019s disaster \u201cis something for people all around the world to pay attention to. Really, when you see this flooding, it\u2019s a reflection of what\u2019s happening everywhere now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Back at the North-Shore Farm Stand, LaTorre, who grows noni, soursop and other specialty crops, says he wishes the state and regional government would move more quickly to protect communities such as\u00a0Waialua.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe water just ripped down the mountain,\u201d he said, looking off toward the cloud-covered slopes of the Waianae Range. \u201cIt took a house out to the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n
A native of California, he jokes that Caltrans, California\u2019s transportation department, with its bigger machines and deeper pockets, would do a far better job securing roads, bridges and other infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cHawaii is struggling to do what it does,\u201d LaTorre said. \u201cBut the community is strong. This is about as real as it gets.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Someone drives through flooded streets on Oahu\u2019s North Shore after historic flooding forced evacuations and rescues across Hawaii.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553915,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[1687,192,79,2427,78759,2986],"class_list":["post-553914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-climate","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-travel","tag-us-and-world","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553914"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553914\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}