Lapakahi Lost a Bunch of Trees

Note: This post was written on 08/16 but posted after Spectrum came back on line on 08/20.

I went to Lapakahi again this morning in order to assess the storm damage. The 3 trees near the gate have been blown over by the storm; all were kiawe trees, an invasive species. A 4^th kiawe tree a little farther down the entrance road was also toppled. Down on the trail portions, I could see 8 trees that had gone over, only 1 was a native species, a milo; the rest were kiawe. Of those trees 4 appeared to be either blocking part of the trail or in an area open to visitors. There was also some water that had been blown into the visitor center; I spent some time sweeping it out so things would not get too moldy. The niu behind the visitor center lost a few fronds but was otherwise OK.

This is the secondary gate.

Several goat exclusion fences also got blown over.

I hope goats don't kill this kukui tree; they have already killed branch that was sticking out of fencing.

There was a little water in visitor center; I swept it out to minimize mold damage.

Niu only lost a couple of fronds on upwind side.

There were still no goats in the trap & again there was a lot of water in the rain gauge. There was 0.3” in the overflow portion & 1” in the actual gauge portion. Jaime said there were no instructions about the overflow portion but thought there might be something online about it. Unlike yesterday, there was hardly any wind & no rain, not even a drizzle today.

I also checked the black water tanks up on the hill by the property line. The northerly tank, which was about half full of water, was still there. But the southerly tank, which had not yet been hooked up to the system, was empty & nowhere to be seen. It might have been blown out to sea!

"Before" on 08/10/26.

Lonely tank this morning.

About 2900 gallons.

While I was at Lapakahi assessing the damage, relaying the information to Jaime & Dane, sweeping the water out of the visitor center, & answering texts, 2 carloads of visitors walked down from the gate! What is it about visitors that makes them think a closed gate is not meant to keep them out? I even had a note on my windshield that said I was a volunteer assessing damage at the park but they did not seem to think that mattered. I think I need to make a bigger one that also says PARK CLOSED in big letters, though that did not seem to stop visitors when we had the fire at the park a couple years ago & had a sign like that; Dane & I actually had to sit at the gate & turn people away! As I walked back up to the gate, I encountered 2 more carloads of visitors! Then as I was driving out I had to flag down 2 more cars & tell them to turn around! Aue!

I estimated it would take at least 2 full days to clean things up before Lapakahi could be reopened. But Jaime & Dane said they need to have GPS work done 1^st to ensure repair work does not impact any archaeological sites. Which means it will delay the tree removal work; so not sure exactly when the park will be reopened.

On the way to Lapakahi there was a phone line down across Akoni Pule Highway by the Puakea Ranch subdivision. There was a barricade preventing cars from going over the partially raised portion & a rubber pad over the flat portion on the pavement that cars were allowed to drive over. There was no officer there to direct traffic; we just did the neighborly thing & worked together to get people past the obstruction. Closer to Lapakahi, there were several officers with chain saws removing downed kiawe trees from the roadway. There were several other kiawe trees down alongside the highway.

Downed phone lines.

Hawaiʻi police clearing kiawe out of roadway.

More downed kiawe.

When I got close to Lapakahi, my phone started to get very active! It signaled that I was getting a whole bunch of texts! And I was! All the texts that were unable to get to me earlier were all arriving at once. And the texts I had tried to send out earlier were also getting sent on their way. 

I stopped at Libby's on the way back; her car is in the shop so I was checking if she needed help getting supplies or repair materials. She did not, so I just spent time eating my lox & bagels breakfast from Motek & talking with her. I also gave her a quart of the orange juice I made yesterday. When her landlady Elizabeth returned home we found out that the Verizon network on the entire island is down with no time given as to when it might be up again; that's why I can't make any calls! I was correct in thinking I was able to send texts out yesterday because of the Starlink system at Lapakahi. It looks like I may have to do that for a few days.

The family house did not sustain any damage. Power went out yesterday just after midnight; it has not yet come back on. The Tesla Powerwall battery provided electricity until about 5 this morning or about 30 hours since the grid went down. When I returned home about 2 pm, it was again powering the house; the solar panels had been able to provide enough energy to store even with the light rain & overcast skies. It looks like power started up again about 9 am. I will be conserving what little energy they have stored in the hopes of making it through tonight. The refrigerator, router, & server will be the only things that will be powered up tonight. I have my Anker battery charger for the phone so it won't have to draw any power from the Powerwall & a solar-powered light for getting around after dark. Because Spectrum Internet is out I am unable to see exactly how much energy is available & how long it might last.

Several plants had a little damage. I think the worst was to the hapu'u that is closest to the deck. It has been partially knocked over; I think I will be able to prop it up & have it survive. 

Before, looking northerly, 08/14/26.

After, looking northerly, today.

Before, looking easterly, 08/14/26.

After, looking easterly, today.

Looking at leaning hapuʻu trunk today; no comparison photo available.

The leaves on the banana plants are tattered but this is a common sight. Several of the kalo also suffered from torn leaves but they should also bounce back easily. I considered making lūʻau from the damaged leaves but decided to wait until the power is more reliably on since it needs to simmer for a couple of hours, just like the collard greens. (I guess this is another boiled vegetable I like, but it is usually boiled in coconut milk or beef broth.)

No before photo for these.

Before, 08/14/26.

After, tallest leaves gone, rest battered down a little.

I think this is one of tall Moi leaves.

Battered Moi leaves; maybe I should harvest & make lūʻau? 

A few oranges I did not harvest were on the ground, as well as a few tangerines, though not as many as I was anticipating, which is good. Many of the leaves on the east side of the mountain apple tree look like they were ripped off by the winds. And several more of the panax have been blown over in to Jessie's yard; I will have Austin & Alika clean them up when they come to finish the work in the cat yard.

Before, 08/14/26.

Today, about 5 or 6 more on the ground.

This is panax on my side, more on Jessie's side.

I opened up the cat “door” this afternoon. I removed most of the staples holding down the plastic bag I was using to keep the rain out. I also removed the plywood & other things inside the house so they could go out the “door”. They will have to deal with the opaque access until I can find a new door that fits the opening. But they are the ones responsible for this inconvenient access so I will not be paying attention to their complaints!

One thing I noticed this morning was that the shed for the chlorinator for the well that provides water for the houses on this road that I am on collapsed last night; it is located at the other edge of Jessie's back yard & is visible from my bedroom window. I do not know if the chlorination system was affected by the collapse but I have started boiling any water that I will be drinking. Since I cannot access the Internet, I cannot get any “boil water” notices from the Department of Water Supply so I am being cautious until I can find out what is going on. I am also adding my own chlorine to the rinse water for any dishes I wash.

Before, 07/02/26; shed is behind tall grass clump.

After, shed collapsed on other side of grass clump.

There were a few ironwoods that came down in the winds last night. I did not hear any of them fall because the wind was so strong last night. 

Top of ironwood on right broke off.

This clump of 3 trees came down in the pasture last night.

Not sure when this one went down, but it was gone when I went to Lapakahi.

I also saw some damage on the road I live on. The worst was a house near the bottom of the hill that lost its entire roof! Trudy lost a couple pieces of roofing along near the eaves but nothing right over the living area. And Jessie had one edge of her garage folded back but not removed. A couple people lost trees in the front. And there was a convoy of large vehicles with tree removal equipment coming down the road as I was returning from Lapakahi.

Yikes! Must have been scary to be in here when this happened.

Jessie's garage.

Caroline's tree.

The tree removal convoy.

I saw a lot of vehicles lined up at Naito Store; they looked like they were mainly filling gas containers. I think it is to run their generators. Power goes out a lot here because we only have 1 line that comes in from Waimea. And it is over 50 years old & surrounded by trees! So a lot of people have generators. FYI The other gas station in the district is in Hāwī, they have no power so they are unable to pump gas.

The Hawaiʻi County Civil Defense sent out several announcements today. The 1st was cancelling the Hurricane Warning & changing it to a Tropical Storm Warning instead. Later the Tropical Storm Warning was cancelled & the Civil Defense listed a number of services that were altered due to the storm events.

The Department of Water Supply also began issuing Essential Water Needs Only reminders. We get these whenever there is something that could impact the ability to keep the water tanks filled, like a pump going out or the power to run the pumps being unavailable.

The State Public Library System also issued a statement regarding operating hours & which libraries were closed. Many are undergoing assessments to see whether they are safe to open at this time.

Spectrum very unhelpfully let me know my internet was still down. Maybe other people like to get notices so that they know it is still down. But I can figure that out when I try to get on & see they still haven't fixed it! Please spend more time fixing the problem rather than telling me it is still a problem!

The mynas learned their lesson yesterday. They did not try to roost in the lychee this evening. 

Since the Internet was down, I was unable to do my Lingopie lesson so my streak was broken. But I was still able to get the 5 Duolingo lessons that were downloaded on to my phone by the SuperDuolingo app that I am using. I did not take any screenshots.

Tropical Storm Lālā is still in the vicinity.  While it may no longer be near Hawaiʻi Island, it is still close enough to the other islands that it will be affecting their weather, though not as drastically as it did to Hawaiʻi Island since it  is farther away from the other islands. Lālā is expected to increase in strength as it heads northerly after passing Kauaʻi.

 

There is another disturbance forming near the Central Pacific boundary. It is expected to become a tropical depression later this week. It is given a 50% chance of forming within the next 7 days. FYI August is the month when most hurricanes form in the Central Pacific, about 40% of them; followed by July (25%), September (20%), & October (9%).

The next episode of the eruption at Kilauea is still undetermined. Scientists need more data before they can make a prediction.

Hauʻoli la Hanau e Gwen, Michael, & Joyce!