Hurricane Lala pulled away from Hawaii on Monday morning after battering the islands over the weekend, leaving behind an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion in damage and economic losses, according to a preliminary report from AccuWeather.
The system formed into a tropical storm early Thursday southeast of the islands before strengthening into a Category 1 hurricane early Saturday, packing maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
While the center of the storm did not make direct landfall, it passed roughly 30 miles south of the Big Island on Saturday, unleashing severe rain and high winds.
Persistent downpours dumped more than 40 inches of rain in parts of the Big Island, with rainfall rates reaching 4 to 5 inches per hour. The heavy precipitation triggered mudslides along steep terrain and severe flash flooding in several communities. In the southern region of the Big Island, floodwaters washed away at least two homes.
Strong wind gusts ranging from 60 to 80 mph tore down trees and utility lines, leaving roughly 70 percent of Hawaii County without power at the peak of the storm.
“Flooding, some of it severe, was the biggest impact from Lala, but widespread power outages, travel disruptions, damage to property and infrastructure, business interruptions and tourism losses all add to the economic toll,” said Jonathan Porter, chief meteorologist at AccuWeather. “The impact to the tourism industry could be prolonged by power outages, and damages to roads.”
Flight cancellations and delays stacked up across island airports starting Friday, compounding the disruption to local businesses and travel.
“The impact from Lala appears far different from the 2023 Maui wildfires, which caused $14 billion to $16 billion in total damage and economic loss and had impacts on Hawaii’s economy and tourism for years,” Porter said. “Lala is expected to have a tail of negative impacts to tourism for the next few weeks and some impact into October, rather than years, although communities hit by catastrophic flooding will face a longer recovery.”
AccuWeather noted that the current $3 billion to $5 billion figure remains preliminary. The assessment accounts for both insured and uninsured losses, including infrastructure damage, supply chain delays, structural repairs, and emergency response costs, while local officials continue surveying affected areas for full reports on damage and injuries.
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