Hurricane 'Lala' brings destruction to Hawaii's Big Island

Tropical Storm Lala, which has been upgraded to a hurricane, has brought destructive winds and massive rainfall to Hawaii's largest island, the Big Island. As a result of the storm, there was a power outage for more than 60,000 households until early Saturday evening (local time). This was shown by the US website poweroutage.us. Local media reported fallen trees, roadblocks and flooding on the island with around 200,000 inhabitants. As the US Hurricane Center (NHC) reported, the center of the Category 1 hurricane passed around 90 kilometers south of the island in a westerly direction. Hurricane-force wind gusts are expected on the Big Island into the night. Danger of flooding and landslides The authority expected a total of 30 to 50 centimeters of rain on the windward sides of the Big Island during the course of the storm. There is still a risk of flooding, landslides and dangerous waves, the NHC said. Residents should remain in safe accommodation. The state's smaller islands - including Maui, Oahu, Kauai and Niihau - are also at risk of dangerously strong winds and heavy rainfall up to and including Sunday, despite the greater distance from the center of the storm, the NHC warned. According to the NHC forecast, Storm Lala will weaken over the course of the week and move further west across the Pacific.