Hurricane Lowell damages homes, knocks out power to most of Kauai
By Meteorologists Tyler Ory, Mary Gilbert, Briana Waxman, Chris Dolce, and Kate S. Petersen, CNN
(CNN) — Hurricane Lowell battered the westernmost islands of Hawaii overnight with hurricane-force wind gusts and monstrous surf that damaged homes and knocked out power to tens of thousands.
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Lowell’s center tracked less than 50 miles from the island of Niihau in Kauai County as a Category 2 storm, making it the strongest hurricane to impact the main Hawaiian Islands since Category 4 Iniki in 1992. It’s the third storm in just over three weeks to target Hawaii, as El Niño supercharges the Pacific hurricane season.
Wind and storm surge damaged homes and other structures in Kauai County, Ryan Wilson, a spokesperson for the county’s emergency management agency, told CNN.
There have also been some storm-related injuries, Wilson said. No details about the severity or nature of the injuries or damage to homes were available.
Wind gusts over 80 mph knocked out power for around 90% of homes and businesses in Kauai County, which also includes the island of Kauai, according to PowerOutage.com. The county’s provider said on Tuesday morning there is “no estimated time of restoration” and outages could be long-lasting.
“There are currently downed power lines, downed trees, debris all over Kauai, so we are really urging folks to stay in place,” said Alan Clinton, situation unit leader with Kauai County.
More than 30,000 customers also lost power on Oahu from tropical-storm-force wind gusts.
The powerful storm pushed the ocean onshore and created destructive waves that “damaged a lot of the area right around the shoreline” on Kauai, Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said in a Monday evening update.
Voluntary evacuation advisories are in place for 650 residences on the south and west shores of Kauai due to storm surge, Wilson and Molly Pierce, a spokesperson for the county emergency management office, told CNN early Tuesday.
In Kapa’a, Kauai, dozens of guests at the ISO Hotel were evacuated to shelters Monday, according to CNN affiliate KITV.
As of Monday night, 275 people and 35 pets were housed in the Kauai County emergency shelters, Pierce said.
High surf inundated a handful of ground floor units in a western Oahu condominium on Monday, CNN affiliate Hawaii News Now reported.
All flights at Lihue Airport, Kauai’s primary airport, were canceled Monday afternoon, Hawaii’s Department of Transportation said. The airport will reopen when its safe to do so, the department said.
All state and county offices, Kauai Community College and public schools are closed in Kauai County and on Oahu Tuesday as cleanup and damage assessments continue, Green announced Monday.
Lowell’s forecast
Hurricane Lowell will weaken to a tropical storm as it moves farther north away from Hawaii on Tuesday.
Its strongest winds have subsided, but trailing rainbands are still expected through the rest of Tuesday that will drop more rain on already soaked areas.
More than a foot of rain has fallen in the higher elevations on Kauai. Oahu’s Koolau mountains have picked up 5 to 9 inches of rain, while most other areas have received 1 to 3 inches.
Rough surf is expected to ease up during the day after peaking Monday night and early Tuesday. A high surf warning is in effect through Tuesday afternoon for south-facing shores of Kauai County, Oahu County, Maui County and the Big Island.
El Niño’s influence
El Niño is helping fuel increased storm potential in the central Pacific this year, warming ocean temperatures in the region and weakening storm-killing upper-level winds, on top of an ocean already warming from climate change.
Five named storms, including Lowell, have already either formed or tracked into the Central Pacific so far. A typical season only has five, but the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s forecast calls for up to 13 by the time this season is over.
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CNN’s Taylor Romine, Hanna Park, Danya Gainor, Karina Tsui, Eduardo Cuevas and Dalia Faheid contributed to this report.
