Lala Damaged 100 Homes, Could Regain Hurricane Strength

The damage count came in as the water went down

Hawaii Gov. Josh Green said more than 100 homes and several bridges were damaged on the Big Island by Tropical Storm Lala, and estimated the storm caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage statewide, The Guardian reported Monday.

Winds were strong enough to sweep about 100 homes off their foundations on the Big Island, according to The Guardian. Parts of a major highway in the island's southeast collapsed overnight, the paper reported, citing the New York Times — blocking road access to Pahala, the town with the region's only hospital.

On Oahu, the Honolulu fire department had logged more than 600 weather-related responses by noon local time Sunday, including 147 reports of downed trees, along with roofs blown off, downed power lines and one swimmer who had to be rescued, a city statement said.

Power is still out for tens of thousands

More than 180,000 customers lost power as Lala swept past, according to The Independent and Reuters. RedState put the figure at 192,000.

By Monday morning, more than 126,000 homes and businesses were still dark, Hawaiian Electric said, according to PennLive. The utility said the largest outages were on Oahu, Hawaii Island and Maui, and warned that some remote parts of Hawaii Island could face extended outages because damaged transmission lines run through rugged terrain that crews struggle to reach. Debris and weather have slowed restoration work, the company said.

The danger did not leave with the storm

Flooding, mudslides and dangerous surf remained concerns Monday even as Lala moved away, USA Today reported. National Weather Service flood watches stayed in effect for parts of Kauai, Niihau, Oahu, Lanai, Molokai and Kahoolawe, with saturated ground and swollen streams still a hazard, according to PennLive. Large swells generated by the storm were expected to keep producing dangerous surf and rip currents through at least Monday.