Hurricane Lowell leaves at least one dead, knocks out power in Kauai County

At least one person died on Oahu after Hurricane Lowell swept past Hawaii, while wind gusts above 80mph knocked out power to around 90% of homes and businesses in Kauai County as the state began cleaning up Tuesday, according to PowerOutage.com.The death occurred after a tree fell on a tent occupied by a homeless man, Hawaii governor Josh Green said. Kauai County officials also reported storm-related injuries but did not say how many people were hurt or describe their injuries.The county's power provider had not given an estimated restoration time and warned that some outages could be prolonged.Green said Lowell had likely caused damage worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Homes and other structures in Kauai County were damaged by wind and storm surge.Flights cancelled as shelters house more than 300All flights at Lihue Airport, Kauai's primary airport, were cancelled Monday afternoon. Hawaii's Department of Transportation said the airport would reopen when it was safe to do so. More than 300 people and dozens of pets were in Kauai County emergency shelters Tuesday morning.State and county offices and public schools were closed Tuesday in Kauai County and on Oahu. Kauai Community College was also closed as cleanup and damage assessments continued.More than 300 National Guard members were deployed across Hawaii. Transportation crews were helping deal with mudslides and storm damage to roads, while other crews were working to restore electricity at hospitals. “There are currently downed power lines, downed trees, debris all over Kauai, so we are really urging folks to stay in place,” Alan Clinton, situation unit leader with Kauai County, said.650 Kauai residences under voluntary evacuation advisoriesAbout 650 residences on Kauai's south and west shores were placed under voluntary evacuation advisories because of the storm-surge threat. Dozens of guests at a hotel in Kapa'a were moved to shelters Monday. Green said waves driven ashore by Lowell “damaged a lot of the area right around the shoreline”.The effects extended beyond Kauai. More than 30,000 customers lost power on Oahu during the storm as tropical-storm-force wind gusts hit the island. High surf also reached a handful of ground-floor units at a condominium in western Oahu.In Maui, coastal flooding closed roads in South Maui and parts of Maui Nui. Maui County reported debris on roads, damage to transport infrastructure and park and service closures.Lowell passes less than 50 miles from NiihauLowell's centre passed less than 50 miles from Niihau in Kauai County while the hurricane was a Category 2 system. It was the strongest hurricane to affect Hawaii's main islands since Category 4 Hurricane Iniki in 1992.It was forecast to weaken to a tropical storm as it moved farther north from Hawaii. Its strongest winds had already subsided, although forecasters expected more rainfall across areas soaked by the storm.More than a foot of rain had fallen at higher elevations on Kauai. Oahu's Koolau mountains received between 5 and 9 inches, while most other areas recorded between 1 and 3 inches.Forecasters expected surf conditions to improve as Tuesday progressed. A high surf warning remained in effect through Tuesday afternoon for south-facing shores of Kauai County, Oahu County, Maui County and the Big Island.Five storms already match typical Central Pacific seasonThe National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecast as many as 13 named storms in the Central Pacific this season, compared with about five in a typical year.Five named storms, including Lowell, have already formed in or moved into the region. Two other tropical systems had threatened Hawaii over the previous three weeks.El Nino is contributing to the increased storm potential. Warmer waters in the Central Pacific and weaker upper-level winds create more favourable conditions for tropical systems, while ocean temperatures are also rising over the longer term because of climate change.With Lowell moving farther north, crews were restoring power, dealing with damaged roads and assessing the storm's impact across the affected islands. “We’re doing what we can to recover, but this was a very serious storm,” Green said.Catch the latest World News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.