Hurricane Lowell Cuts Off Hawaii Port, Threatening Supplies
Hurricane Lowell has left Hawaii’s smallest main island cut off from its primary supply line and knocked out power to almost all of Kauai, raising fears of food and fuel shortages as recovery crews race to repair the damage. The storm skirted along the state’s western edge overnight on Sept. 7-8, and at least two deaths have been linked to it.
On Lanai, the storm rendered Kaumalapau Harbor — the island’s only commercial cargo facility — inoperable, according to NBC News. The harbor supplies much of the food and fuel for the island’s roughly 3,300 residents, and state officials estimate it will take about two weeks to repair.
Two Islands, Two Crises
The storm delivered a double blow: catastrophic wind and storm-surge damage on Kauai, and an isolated supply emergency on Lanai. In both cases, the islands’ dependence on fragile infrastructure has magnified the disruption.
At Lanai’s main harbor, the storm opened a sinkhole, damaged part of the pier and scattered shipping containers into the water, the state Transportation Department said. State officials are now scrambling to find other ways to get supplies to the island.
On Kauai, the hurricane knocked out power to roughly 33,000 of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative’s 36,000 members — more than 90% of the island — in what officials described as the worst storm destruction since Hurricane Iniki in 1992.
“Our first priority is making sure conditions are safe for our crews, emergency responders and the public,” KIUC President and CEO David Bissell said in a statement. “We know our members want to know when their power will be restored. Right now, we need to understand the extent of the damage and what repairs are necessary before we can provide reliable restoration estimates.”
Recovery Makes Uneven Progress
By Thursday, power had been restored to roughly 66% of KIUC customers, including Kauai’s three hospitals — Wilcox Medical Center, Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital and Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. KIUC reported that about 63% of its transmission lines had been repaired and energized.
Hawaiian Electric sent a team to Kauai to assist, with trucks and equipment scheduled to arrive by barge Friday.
But Bissell warned that Kauai’s north shore, Wainiha, Kokee and the “extreme ends of the system” may be without power for “a few weeks.” He said the cooperative “definitely” does not expect the outages to last more than a month, as they did after Iniki, which struck Kauai directly on Sept. 11, 1992, and caused about $3 billion in damage.
Roads across the island remain a major obstacle. North Shore and Westside highways were impassable, with some buried in sand and boulders from broken seawalls. Waimea State Recreational Pier was ripped apart, and Port Allen small boat harbor saw piers destroyed and several vessels sunk.
“That road is going to be down for a long time,” Kekaha resident and farmer Umi Martin told Honolulu Civil Beat about Kaumualii Highway.
The Human Toll
At least two deaths have been linked to the storm. On Kauai, first responders found the body of a 74-year-old Kalaheo man Wednesday near the shoreline fronting Nomilu Fishpond, between Poipu and Eleele. Authorities believe his death was related to the storm surge.
A second man was killed on Oahu when a large tree fell on his tent Monday during the storm, the governor said. The man was homeless and living in a park, according to NBC News.
Tourism and the Road Ahead
Hawaii’s tourism authority urged travelers to reschedule Kauai trips or shift to another island, even as local business owners acknowledged the economic strain. Tourism accounts for an estimated four of every ten jobs on Kauai.
“Adjusting your itinerary allows you to continue your Hawaii vacation while supporting the state’s broader visitor economy as Kauai recovers,” said Caroline Anderson, interim president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority.
But Kelly Kakalia, co-owner of The Musubi Truck, which has three locations on Kauai, said the island needs time to recover first. “I would be silly to say tourism doesn’t drive our economy,” she said. “But our island needs time to rest and rebuild and make sure locals have power and water.”
Gov. Josh Green has asked President Trump to issue an expedited Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Kauai and Maui counties, seeking to bypass the usual joint preliminary damage assessment process.
“We cannot wait for every damaged road, utility pole, harbor and public facility to be assigned a dollar value before asking the federal government to act,” Green said. The governor estimated the damage will run “in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
What to Watch
The coming days will determine how quickly Lanai can restore its supply chain and whether federal aid arrives fast enough to ease the burden on Kauai. The coincidence of the storm’s timing — arriving near the 34th anniversary of Iniki’s strike — has underscored how vulnerable Hawaii’s isolated communities remain to a single hurricane. For now, officials are urging patience as crews work through what Bissell called “a huge restoration process” across some 1,500 miles of transmission and distribution lines.