The storm resulted in at least one fatality, widespread coastal flooding, and significant structural damage across the islands.
West Kauai Residents Assess Damage and Clear Debris
Residents across West Kauai are beginning recovery efforts after Hurricane Lowell battered the coastline. In Hanapepe, a residential home lost its roof entirely during the height of the storm. Tracy Valente, a resident inside the 1950s-built home, described hearing her metal roof rip away with a sound resembling crackling thunder.
“Oh, I was shaking. I was like shaking and looking for all my things and trying to get out of the house. I don’t wanna go again.”
Tracy Valente, West Kauai Resident
Valente ultimately fled to her daughter’s nearby residence after losing her roof. Further west along the coastline, the storm surge washed out the Waimea Pier and toppled several large trees. In Kekaha, missing shingles and structural damage affected multiple homes.
Resident Kalani Mahuka used a front loader early in the morning to clear boulders and debris left by floodwaters along Kaumualii Highway. Although floodwaters had receded by morning, heavy rocks remained scattered across the roadway. Crews reduced parts of the highway to a single lane as cleanup operations continued.
Widespread Rains and Wind Gusts Across the Island Chain
The storm system delivered severe weather well beyond Kauai. Oahu experienced maximum wind gusts topping 50 mph, while preliminary totals from the National Weather Service indicated parts of the island received nearly 10 inches of rain as reported in weather data. Low-lying coastal areas suffered severe inundation and power outages.
Although Lowell subsequently weakened to a tropical storm and moved away from the islands, residual tropical moisture brought additional precipitation and storms across the island chain, slowing cleanup efforts in heavily impacted neighborhoods.
A Heavy Season of Severe Weather for Hawaii
This severe weather event continues an unusually active and damaging storm season for Hawaii over a six-month period. Parts of Oahu and the Big Island endured intense flooding from Hurricane Lala just weeks prior to Lowell’s arrival, followed quickly by additional rainfall from Tropical Storm Moke on the Big Island. Earlier in the year during March, severe weather dropped more than 25 inches of rain across parts of Oahu, while Maui recorded over 19 inches during the same period.
Meteorologists noted that wave heights reached up to 30 feet during the height of Hurricane Lowell, compounding coastal erosion and damage before the storm tracked away from the region.
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