San Francisco resident monitors Lala as storm leaves family on Big Island hunkered down

Saturday, August 15, 2026 11:20PM PT
HONOLULU (KGO) -- Residents on Hawaii's Big Island prepared for heavy rain, strong winds and storm surge as Hurricane Lala moved through the area on Saturday, though officials said the island would avoid a direct hit.

Authorities warned of potentially life-threatening conditions, including flooding and mudslides. Some residents stayed off roads while others used sandbags and other measures to protect their homes.

"I'm kind of nervous about it. But we are going to hunker down we are going to stay safe," said Hilo resident Maxine.

RELATED: Lala is again a tropical storm, sending drenching rain and winds across the Hawaiian islands

In San Francisco, Taisho SF owner Darryl Honda closely monitored the storm because he is from Hawaii's Big Island and still has family and friends there.



"I'm fourth generation from Hawaii, originally from the Big Island, grew up in Oahu," Honda said.

Honda said he spoke Saturday with his cousin, who is in Kona, and that conditions there were not as severe. He also received updates about his aunt and uncle.

"They're getting hit pretty hard right now," Honda said.

Parts of the Big Island received as much as 2 inches of rain per hour, according to the some reports.

Honda said his aunt and uncle live in Honokaa, on what residents call the rainy side of the island.



"I recently spoke to my aunt and uncle and we're from a small town called Honokaa, which closest bigger town would be Waimea, and that's what we call the rainy side. And they're batting down the hatches right now as we speak," he said.

Some members of Honda's family lost power.

"Yes, so my cousins have lost power, and currently right now in Honokaa, they have no power. So, you know, we're in the country, right?" Honda said.

He said conditions were changing quickly.

"You know, no power, just regain power, power is going out again," Honda said.



Honda is scheduled to return to Hawaii in about two weeks for a family wedding. Until then, he said he hopes the storm passes without further harm.

"So I'm hoping that the storm will, will be, will be passed by them. Yeah. And as we say in Hawaii, all pow, hopefully it's all pow," he said.

Honda said some family members living in more rural parts of the Big Island were still dealing with outages. Authorities also continued to warn about flash flooding and mudslides in other parts of Hawaii.


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