Maui News

On Maui, the greatest rainfall totals were at West Wailuaiki (between Keʻanae and Nāhiku) in East Maui where more than 24 inches fell over four days, followed by Puʻu Kukui  (Mauna Kahalawai) in the West Maui Mountains where nearly 15 inches were reported over the same period.

Many Island of Hawai‘i residents are familiar with the volcanic air pollution known as “vog.” The main culprit in the formation of vog is sulfur dioxide gas (SO2) released from Kīlauea’s eruptions.

There are multiple landslides reported this morning along the Hāna Highway in East Maui at Mile 10, 21 and 23.  Some of the slides were blocking both lanes.

By Sunday morning, a total of $60,352 had been raised toward a goal of $100,000 to assist families affected by the West Maui fires.

Maui Electric crews, along with help from additional crews, contractors and resources, restored power to a majority of the 4,000 customers without power in West Maui and isolated pocket outages in Upcountry, Haʻikū and Waiheʻe by 2:55 a.m. this morning.

*Video by Jack Dugan; Video Edit: Marlo Antes; Story by Wendy Osher (Update: 3 p.m. 8.25.18): A total of 21 structures and 30 vehicles were damaged in Friday’s fires in West Maui, according to new information released by the Maui Department of Fire and Public Safety. Six of those structures are located near Lahainaluna and […]

County and state departments continue to assess storm damage impacts and have updated information on when some services will resume.

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education’s (HIDOE) school administrators and facilities teams are working in conjunction with federal, state and county emergency management personnel over the weekend to prepare most schools to open on Monday, Aug. 27.  However, due to damage from the storm and brush fires, the following Maui campuses will be closed for […]

Maui Electric crews continue to work on restoring power to about 4,000 customers in West Maui and pockets of Upcountry, Ha‘ikū and Waihe‘e today after these areas experienced outages due to heavy winds and downed trees.

The tree blocked the road for several hours as a six-man Maui County road crew worked with a bulldozer and chainsaws to remove it during relentless rainfall.

Area resident, Susan Miller said, “Three power poles snapped like old-fashioned matchsticks.  Our road leading to Pi‘iholo is trashed.

All Maui County departments are reviewing operations this morning in order to determine which services can resume and when.

Moisture from Hurricane Lane will produce heavy rainfall, through Saturday.

Maui County plans to open all landfills on Saturday (8/25/18), pending a morning assessment of the individual sites to ensure no overnight damage was sustained.

The Tropical Storm Warning has been discontinued for Oʻahu and Maui County; and the Tropical Storm Watch has been discontinued for Kauaʻi County.

On Maui, after staff assessments, all parks except for Waiʻānapanapa State Park are expected to reopen in the morning. Waiʻānapanapa is not accessible currently off the Hāna Highway which was severely impacted by the storm.

In Haʻikū, the 4-inch waterline providing water to Puʻu Way and Waha Place was washed out and customers on those streets are without water. 

The Department of Water Supply is unable to operate its pumps due to the power outage, and the surface water treatment facilities cannot process the muddy water inflow.

Due to the high winds from Hurricane Lane that damaged electrical equipment, Maui Electric is asking customers in the West Maui area currently without power to prepare for an extended outage this evening Friday, Aug. 24, through tomorrow, Saturday, Aug. 25.

In an effort to help all creatures great and small, a DLNR team has moved 2,000 endangered Hawaiian snails to a safe space away from storm impacts.