These Dramatic Photos Show Catastrophic Flooding In Hawaii After Tropical Storm Lane Hit The Islands
Residents and officials in Hawaii had braced for disaster as Hurricane Lane spun toward the island state, deluging it in historic rainfall as it weakened to a tropical storm.
For the past week, officials in Hawaii had warned the state to prepare for a major storm, bracing themselves for the worst as Hurricane Lane headed for the islands, first as a Category 5 hurricane, and then as a weakened, but slow-moving, tropical storm.
Residents and visitors stripped grocery stores as they stocked up on water, food, propane, and other necessities, readying emergency kits that authorities said should last for up to two weeks. They secured their windows with plywood, filled sandbags, and put up barriers to protect the bases of low-lying structures. As Lane finally approached Friday, more than a thousand people moved into the three dozen shelters that had opened across the state. And of course, a few surfers and bodyboarders reveled in the extreme weather conditions, rushing to the ocean to catch large waves, despite warnings from local officials not to go in the water.
Lane drew closer Friday, lingering overnight and into the weekend as it inundated parts of the state with historic rains. Though damage wasn't as cataclysmic as authorities had feared, Hawaii's Big Island was deluged in more than three feet of rain, leading to massive flooding in Hilo and landslides across the island. The National Weather Service warned another 5 to 10 inches of rain could still fall before the weekend was over.
By Saturday afternoon, all tropical warnings and watches had been canceled for Hawaii. Still, authorities cautioned residents to remain vigilant, as moisture from the storm was likely to continue drenching the state, causing additional flash flooding and landslides.
A car is stuck, partially submerged in floodwater on Hawaii's Big Island.
Residents carry dogs through floodwaters to dry land after playing in the water briefly on the Big Island.
Surfers and bodyboarders catch waves in Waikiki as Hurricane Lane approached Thursday.
The Wailuku River floodwater runs downstream on the Big Island on Thursday.
A boarded up store near Waikiki Beach on Oahu.
People enter a Red Cross shelter at President William McKinley High School in Honolulu on Thursday ahead of Hurricane Lane's expected arrival.
The Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort gets ready to set up sandbags at the beachside entrances of the hotel Thursday.
A man from Japan and his son watch as massive waves crash off the sea cliffs along the southeast shore of Oahu.
The Wailuku River floodwater runs downstream on the Big Island Thursday.
Someone dives into the water on Friday at Waikiki Beach on Oahu.
Huge waves slam the cliffs near the Halona Blowhole on Oahu on Friday.
Floodwater from Lane's historic rainfall on the Big Island.
A bridge overlooking floodwater from the Wailuku River on the Big Island.
Simon Carvalho surfs in a drainage canal swollen from Tropical Storm Lane rainfall on Saturday. At least three feet of rain fell on the Big Island between Wednesday and Saturday.
Residents bodyboard in floodwaters at a baseball field on Saturday on the Big Island.
A man walks next to a home damaged by flooding on the Big Island on Saturday.
Floodwaters flow beneath a baseball scoreboard as residents bodyboard nearby during flooding from Tropical Storm Lane on the Big Island on Saturday.
The swollen Wailuku River flows in Hilo on the Big Island on Saturday.
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Michelle Broder Van Dyke is a breaking news reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in Honolulu.
Contact Michelle Broder Van Dyke at michelle@buzzfeed.com.
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