Hurricane Lala barrelled past Hawaii this past weekend and left a trail of mayhem in its wake. Here on the island, more than 60,000 households, including this one, are without power and there was a good deal of flooding and trees blown down. Our power went out just after midnight on Saturday morning. I took this as a bad sign as only the outer edges of the storm had reached the island at that time. Recent storms have resulted in power outages of a few hours duration. This promised something more lengthy.
Around 9:00 a.m. we lost our cell phone service, meaning we had no idea what was going on and how the storm was progressing. We had to drive several miles down the road to get erratic service. Since we were doing that, we decided to carry on to the South Kohala resort area to get lunch.
We stopped at Mauna Lani to find a tree blocking one lane and the restaurant we were aiming for closed. So we continued on to the restaurant at the theater in Waikoloa. This stretch of the coast was overcast but warm and with barely a breath of wind. When we were done, we headed back north. I wanted to stop at the river by Mauna Kea Resort as I’d seen it was running pretty high. This spot is about 9 miles miles from where we ate. When I pulled over to stop the wind was howling and threatening to blow me into oncoming traffic, which luckily was sparse. I took photos from both sides of the road making sure not to get blown over into the river! When I got back to the car, my wife said she thought it was going to get blown over!
On the way back home we found a line of cars and a fallen tree, which luckily just blocked one lane. For the remainder of the day, and much of the night, the wind howled, buffeting the house with strong gusts.
Sunday morning, all was calm again. The storm had mostly passed, trailing some bands of rain with occasional gusty winds. We still had no power or cell service, so I hit the road again to find a signal. At one point, a pole had broken and a line fallen across the road. Cars were backed up, but eventually began to cross the fallen line, which wasn’t a power line, but probably a fiber optic cable.
When I came back from finding a signal, I found a car off the side of the road. The driver had gone a bit too far onto the grass and slid down a slight bank and wasn’t able to get back up as the ground was so slick. Luckily a local truck driver came by and towed him out.
Today I learned many other places had it much worse, especially in the south end of the island. Our power is estimated to be restored late Wednesday, but I’m not counting my chickens. In the meantime my posts and respnses will continue to be erratic for a few days.
Graham's Island 
It’s amazing how the winds just lift the trees up out of the ground,
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Lots of them have shallow roots.
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Good luck
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Thanks.
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The important thing is that you’re okay
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Yes, we came out of it not too bad.
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Flippin’ heck! The size of those uprooted trees! Be careful out there, Graham. We seem to be living in turbulent times xx
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It was a turbulent weekend for sure!
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Wow, that sounds pretty drastic, even though you’ve made an adventure of it. The huge tree down on its side makes the grass look synthetic. They must have shallow roots, like many eucalypts.
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I thought the grass looked fake to, especially with the rock still sitting on it!
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That sounds scary that you had and the damage. So, I dread to think for worse storms. I hope you don’t have anymore.
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These storms go with the territory, like the volcanoes. One learns to live with it, but it’s no consolation for those who are hard hit.
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I am so relieved you made it through safely. I hope you get power soon. It will be harder for the linemen to get to you. Maybe they came in before the hurricane to be prepared to help out? On the mainland, the linemen come from all over to help get the power up after a disaster. I’m not sure how that will for you.
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I heard today that 100 or so linemen are coming over today so that will help.
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Linemen are the quiet superheroes of disasters. I am so glad you’ve got them coming over.
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It will sure help. Our power came back on overnight so that was very welcome.
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Wow, scary! Strange how a few miles away made so much difference in the storm’s impact! Your fallen tree pictures are incredible, especially the one with the rock. I’ve seen on the news how badly the south point of the island was hit; we’ve gone to Punalu’u Bakery several times and was sad to see it destroyed along with much else in the area. Hopefully, power will be restored sooner than later and recovery can begin.
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Nahalehu was hit really hard. Things washed away left right and center. I loved the rock on the tree.
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Between wildfires and hurricanes, what’s a puny human to do? Being without power is bad. Crazy pics! I admire that you can create a post on the cellphone. Hope you and your wife are staying safe, Graham!
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We’re OK but still without power. I put this post together at work on my computer so it was much easier. I’m not very adept with my phone!
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