Lowell slams Hawaii with hurricane-force winds, leaving one island in a near-total blackout

Hurricane Lowell began pulling away from Hawaii on Tuesday after bringing heavy rain, winds that reached 80 mph and flooding that left one of the hardest hit islands almost entirely without power.

Areas affected and restoration response

The storm, whose huge wind field impacted the islands even though the center was well to the west, was moving away from the islands of Kauai and Niihau Tuesday morning, but forecasters warned that damaging winds, flooding and dangerous surf could continue across the Hawaiian Islands for much of the day.

On Kauai, preliminary storm reports from the National Weather Service said that a house was blown off its foundation and into a neighbors yard, a roof was lifted off another home and a tree fell on a house in Kilauea, with one injury reported overnight.

At the Sheraton Kauai Resort, reports said ocean water was flooding into the pool and encircling the building. A few cars were reported floating away.

Kauai emergency management officials asked residents and visitors to avoid driving as crews set out to clear roadways and restore other critical infrastructure, like power lines.

Hawaiian media outlets reported waters flooding properties in coastal communities, while the island’s main airport was shut down Monday.

Several roads and bridges were closed due to the storm, including Kūhiō Highway near Hanalei Bridge, a primary coastal roadway.

Service area background

Kauai and Niihau were the hardest hit islands, with approximately 57,669 of Kauai’s electricity customers — about 90% — without power Tuesday morning, according to utility tracker PowerOutage.com.