Hurricane season 2026

[Rob Tucker]

Just did a tour of Pahoa town. Power out across the board. Zero sign of HELCO. Zero sign of CoH Civil Defense. Heck, the CD web site has nothing about the storm.

Our county government in inaction.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

* Safeway gas in Hilo open, but long lines
* Texaco near Walmart open, long lines
* Shell on Kīlauea (across from Lex Brody) open

Many downtown Hilo stop lights out

[HiloJulie]

Our county government in inaction.

In most times, I'd agree. But not today sir, considering what is going on right now in the Ka‘ū District.

UPDATE: Search and rescue operation underway after several homes swept off foundations in Ka‘ū District : Big Island Now

As for any governmental inaction with respect to Hurricane Lala, wait until Josh has to ask for FEMA funds.

[Rob Tucker]

CoH CIvil Defense web site: Zero information

[kimo wires]

Does any service stations running on back up have non-ethanol gas?

[macuu222]

All traffic lights are down on hwy 130. They are working in Hilo. OHANA fuels ( across from KTA ) is open and they have ethanol frée gas. Ihop is open but there is about an hour wait. And Walmart is insane.

[Durian Fiend]

Check out photos coming from Ka'u. They got hit hard. Reports of homes swept off their foundations. Punalu'u bakery grounds are practically unrecognizable. South point road looks destroyed.

[ironyak]

Sunday morning update from HECO - not sounding good, island or state wide.
https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/8-am-up...estoration

"Customers in parts of Hawaii Island could remain out for weeks
- Approximately 197,400 customers are without power as of 7 a.m.
- Help from mainland electric utilities anticipated to arrive Tuesday

HONOLULU, Aug. 16, 2026 – More than 197,000 customers remain without power as Tropical Storm Lala makes its way south of the islands, bringing destructive strong winds and heavy rainfall. Hawaiian Electric crews are beginning damage assessments in areas that are accessible on Hawaii Island, Maui and Oahu before power can be restored, and customers should prepare for extended outages lasting weeks or even months in the hardest hit rural areas of Hawaii Island.

The safety of our employees and the public remains our top priority. At the height of the storm, on Hawaii Island, the company heeded civil defense warnings and stayed off the roads. Work is resuming in areas as hazardous conditions subside. As a reminder, the public is advised to stay away from downed power lines and other utility equipment.

Restoration today will focus on damage assessments and repairs to the main transmission system to enable Hawaiian Electric to reconnect independent power producers to the Hawaii Island grid. Weather permitting, damage assessments will include on-the-ground and aerial inspections by helicopter and drones on Hawaii Island, in Maui County and on Oahu."

[randomq]

Punaluu Bakery, looks like a landslide...

[ironyak]

Sorry, quick backtrack for clarity - are there generators now that actually require ethanol-free fuel? I understand the whole preference for long-term fuel storage and such, but given that any fuel is likely to be used over the next few days or weeks, and can be put into vehicles, other tools, etc, would not whatever 87 octane that is available fit the needs of the situation?

Just checking that my old small engine maintenance and repair experience hasn't been left by the wayside (like my knowledge of how to repair snow-blowers for the mainland in-laws ;)