At a Glance
- Hurricane Lane brought more than four feet of rain and days of flooding to the Big Island.
- On Kauai, one person was found dead in a flooded stream.
- More than 20 homes were destroyed in brush fires on Maui Island.
Heavy rains associated with the remnants of Lane persisted days after the storm's center pulled away from Hawaii, dumping nearly three feet of rain on the island of Kauai.
Officials told the Associated Press that the first confirmed death from the storm occurred Wednesday when crews found the body of 30-year-old Joshua Bradbury in a stream in Koloa, a town on the southern end of Kauai. A resident said he saw Bradbury jump into the stream and float away; police told the AP they believe he was attempting to rescue a dog.
(PHOTOS: Lane, in Pictures)
The days-long deluge brought by Lane prompted officials to urge residents in southern Kauai to evacuate until waters recede. Rain totals in some parts of the island neared 35 inches by the time Lane was gone.
"Some of my friends had to evacuate their Weke Road home in chest-deep water," Terry Lilley, a 15-year resident of Hanalei, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Gov. David Ige signed a supplementary proclamation Tuesday, extending relief for damage resulting from Lane. The proclamation is effective through Oct. 27.
Dozens Rescued as Islands Flood
The powerful storm racked up prolific rainfall totals, unleashing hours of torrential downpours that yielded dangerous floods, blocking roads for days.
The storm became the No. 2 rainmaker from a U.S. tropical cyclone since 1950, topped only by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The storm dumped more than 50 inches of rain on some parts of Hawaii Island, and more than three feet of precipitation in Hilo, where widespread flooding was reported. Some of the biggest rainfall totals came upslope of Hilo, adding to the disaster occurring in the city.
"It was almost biblical proportions," Kai Kahele, a state senator who represents Hilo, told the AP.
South of Hilo, rising water trapped one family in a Keaau home Friday until rescue personnel could arrive. As the flood slammed tree trunks against her sister's house, Lou-Ann Tolentino and her family climbed to the second floor and called for help, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported.
Hawaii County firefighters tied one end of a rope to the house and the other to a tree in the yard. After putting on life vests, six adults and five children – two 5-year-olds, a 7-year-old and two 11-year-olds – climbed through the kitchen window to escape.
"We jumped into the water, and then they took us one by one up to the hill," Tolentino told the Star-Advertiser.
(MORE: Lane's Floodwaters Could Be Toxic, Officials Warn)
Ichelle Fukuhara, whose family also had to be rescued from flooding in Keaau, said they had to flee upstairs in their home as debris and flood water battered the lower level Friday.
"They had to tie ropes from our mountain apple tree and to our house foundation and we all had to climb out one at a time," she told Hawaii News Now. "It was very traumatizing having to watch and praying that your kids are going to make it through with the firemen."
Officials told the AP that five tourists were rescued Thursday from their Hilo rental home on the Big Island when it was flooded by a swollen gulch nearby. Hawaii County firefighters were able to remove all five people from the house, and nobody was injured, the report added.
"It was quite an experience because we weren't planning to have a hurricane during our vacation time," Suzanne Demerais, one of the rescued tourists, told the AP.
Officials also told the AP that they removed six people and a dog from a flooded home in a separate rescue in Hilo, which was flooded with waist-high water.
Firefighters on the Big Island rescued 39 people from floodwaters Friday through early Saturday, the AP reported.
"Thank you for your work," Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim told state and county officials gathered at county Civil Defense headquarters in Hilo on Saturday. "Man, oh man, oh man, was that a lot of water."
Homes Lost to Maui Brush Fire
In what was the last thing locals expected to happen as a powerful rainmaker arrived, about 600 people were evacuated in the town of Lahaina on the western side of Maui Island early Friday morning because of a brush fire, Maui County said in a statement. Residents were told to leave their homes near the Lahaina Aquatic Center after the fire was reported at about 1 a.m. local time, according to Hawaii News Now.
One woman was injured, and more than 20 homes and at least a dozen vehicles were destroyed by the fire.
"The wind was pumping, the smoke was pumping, the ash was everywhere. It was kind of scary," local resident Lucy Reardon told the Star-Advertiser.
Hours after it was sparked, the fire jumped a roadway and continued to burn near the Aloha Gas Station. Several roads were closed in the area because of the blaze, and evacuees sheltering at Lahaina Intermediate School were sent to the Lahaina Civic Center.
A few hours after the first fire began, a second fire began in the Kaanapali area not far from several resorts.
A third fire was sparked later Friday morning near Maalaea, south of the first two blazes, but only claimed 30 acres before it stopped, Maui County Communications Director Rod Antone told the Star-Advertiser. It's not yet known how these fires started.
On Oahu, 'We Dodged a Bullet'
As the storm fell apart and rainfall forecasts were reduced for Oahu, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell was hopeful that a worst-case scenario was not imminent for the island of Oahu.
"The good news is Lane got weak and fell apart. We dodged a bullet," he said during a Friday news conference.
Despite the optimistic forecast, Caldwell begged locals and tourists to stay out of the ocean while Lane churned up large waves. His message to the public was that they were in serious danger if they entered the water.
