Hawaiian Electric completes repairs to all major systems damaged by Hurricane Lala Help available for Hawaiʻi Island customers who need repairs to their property before reenergization
Hawaiian Electric completes repairs to all major systems damaged by Hurricane Lala
Help available for Hawaiʻi Island customers who need repairs to their property before reenergization
HONOLULU, Aug. 31, 2026 – Hawaiian Electric has completed repairs to its electric systems across Hawaiʻi Island that were damaged by Hurricane Lala. Power has been restored to all customers who can be restored, one week ahead of the previous Sept. 8 estimated timeframe. The remaining outages are likely due to damage to customer property or to access issues, with the exception of Wood Valley in the Kaʻū area (see below).
Since Hurricane Lala battered the island with high winds and heavy rainfall on Aug. 15 and 16, Hawaiian Electric crews, contractors and support teams have been working around the clock to repair damaged infrastructure, including 21 damaged transmission lines, which connect neighborhoods to power plants and numerous distribution lines.
Hawaiian Electric completed repairs ahead of its commitment last week to restore power to 99% of impacted customers by Aug. 28. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the company said it might take until Sept. 8 to restore some customers in areas overwhelmed by mudslides and flooding.
Customers should be aware that if there are signs that floodwaters rose high enough to submerge electrical equipment, property owners must have a licensed electrician inspect their electric system and certify that it is safe before Hawaiian Electric can restore service. This is to reduce the risk of hazards, such as electric shocks or fires. Hawaiian Electric has information about the service reconnection process and other resources available online. County and state partners may also be able to help customers connect with licensed electricians.
With the center of the storm passing 35 miles south of Hawaiʻi Island, wind gusts reached 91 mph in Kohala on Hawaiʻi Island, toppling trees that took down utility poles, lines and transmission towers, leaving more than 65,700 Hawaiʻi Island customers without power. In Ka‘ū, torrential rains caused catastrophic flash flooding that washed away utility poles, roads and bridges. Hawaiian Electric called for assistance from mainland utilities on Aug. 16 to aid with restoration. Employees from Southern California Edison responded and began arriving on Aug. 18 through the company’s partnership in the Western Region Mutual Assistance Group.
“With help from our California colleagues and support from our neighbor island teams across the company, we have been in the field and behind the scenes working night and day to safely help our communities,” said Jim Alberts, Hawaiian Electric senior vice president and chief operations officer. “We truly appreciate the long hours that these employees have spent away from their families, working in the hot sun, humidity and isolated downpours.”
Safety is the company’s top priority. No members of the public, Hawaiian Electric or Southern California Edison employees were injured during power restoration efforts.
As crews replaced storm-damaged power lines, Hawaiian Electric also used the opportunity to strengthen the electric system where possible. In certain high wildfire risk areas, copper wire is being replaced with aluminum wire as part of repair and restoration work to improve system resilience.
In Wood Valley, Hawaiian Electric will be rerouting power lines to help speed restoration. Storm waters washed out portions of Wood Valley Road, where some of Hawaiian Electric’s utility poles were based. Since it’s not clear how long it will take for the road to be rebuilt, Hawaiian Electric plans to reroute its lines and make other improvements that will help get customers back online as quickly as possible.
“We thank our customers for their patience through the difficult recovery process from Hurricane Lala. We know that extended outages are more than an inconvenience and appreciate your support for our employees and mainland utility crews as they safely rebuilt miles of infrastructure as quickly as possible,” Alberts said.
Despite the $20 million a year the company spends on vegetation management, more than half the Hawaiʻi Island outages during Lala were caused by invasive albizia and other vegetation knocking down poles and power lines. On Hawaiʻi Island alone just in the first six months of this year, the company has removed or trimmed 20,000 trees. In many neighborhoods, crews needed to wait until roads were cleared of debris before they could access the area and complete repairs. In some cases, even while crews were working on restoration, trees and branches were still falling in areas where the ground was over saturated. Crews are continuing work to prepare for incoming storm systems as hurricane season continues through November.
“Addressing the risk that overgrown trees and vegetation pose to our island infrastructure is both urgent and essential,” Alberts said. “Hawaiian Electric will continue collaborating with partners and stakeholders on a holistic, collective approach to vegetation management.”
In 2014, when Hurricane Iselle made landfall on Hawaiʻi Island, 210 poles were damaged or destroyed, mainly in Puna. About 25,000 customers lost electricity. In contrast, Hurricane Lala caused damage across the island but the company only lost 174 of the roughly 60,000 poles due to resilience work that has been done on Hawaiʻi Island.
