A Hurricane That Missed Hawaii Hit It Anyway

How does a hurricane that never touches land flatten houses, black out an island and leave a $400 million bill? That is the question Hurricane Lowell forces, and the answer is not in the eye but in the edge — in 30-foot surf, in rain measured in feet, and in a grid that could not take the side-swipe. ^{1 2}

The center of Lowell passed roughly 40 miles west of Niihau around 9 p.m. Hawaii time on the night of September 7 into September 8, 2026, while weakening. ^{2 4} At that moment of closest approach the National Hurricane Center estimated maximum sustained winds near 110 mph at the storm's center, over open water far west of any island. ^{4 40} But Kauai and Niihau sat in the storm's right-front quadrant, where tropical cyclones put their worst winds, surf and spin, and the western edge alone was enough to make Lowell one of Hawaii's most consequential storms in decades. ³

Early numbers confused what happened on land with what happened over water. ABC reported winds over 100 mph and NBC reported 85 mph gusts, and both pointed at something real but different. ^{1 23} On land, the highest officially measured wind was a 92 mph gust at Puu Lua, elevation 3,273 feet, at 11:35 p.m. on September 7. ² Other gusts reached 87 mph at Nawiliwili, 85 mph at Waimea, and 84 mph at Barking Sands and Lihue Airport, while sustained winds at Lihue Airport ran about 53 to 59 mph with gusts of 79 to 84 mph. ² No official land station recorded a gust at or above 100 mph or a sustained wind that high; the over-100 figure described the storm's winds over open water or a pre-storm forecast for the western mountain slopes, not a verified island reading. ²

What Lowell lacked in verified land winds it delivered in water. South-facing shores of Kauai saw surf of 20 to 30 feet, and waves topping 25 feet demolished homes and carried cars away in Poipu. ^{1 41} Those waves rode a high tide and a 1-to-3-foot storm-surge forecast for Kauai County, and it was the combination — surge plus tide plus surf — not any single ingredient, that destroyed so much coastline. ⁴

In Poipu the damage reads like a surge textbook. The first floor of the Sheraton Kauai Resort was buried in sand. ²² Along Hoona Road near Baby Beach, several homes were pushed off their foundations or destroyed; in one spot a house was lifted clear, split in two, with part of the structure thrown across the street, and a witness counted five or six homes destroyed on a single street. ^{23 24} Several cars were carried across a resort parking lot, Port Allen Small Boat Harbor suffered extensive pier and vessel damage, and the state Department of Transportation had to clear rocks off Kaumualii Highway in Kekaha on September 8. ²⁰

Rain piled onto the island's wettest slopes while most other places saw far less. Preliminary totals peaked near 20 inches on Kauai, with 19.89 inches at Wainiha, 19.6 to 21.1 inches at Kilohana, and 15 to 18 inches at Mount Waialeale and Mohihi Crossing. ² Lower elevations and the other islands largely saw 4 to 10 inches, which is why the widely quoted nearly 1.5 feet describes the Kauai peaks, not a statewide average. ²⁵ That rain drove flash flooding and mudslides, especially on Kauai, and officials warned the flood threat would outlast the wind. ³

Two people died. On Kauai, a 74-year-old man from Kalaheo was found dead on the morning of September 9 along the shoreline fronting Nomilu Fishpond, between Poipu and Eleele; officials said the death appears related to storm surge, an autopsy was pending and foul play was not suspected, after he had been reported missing the previous day. ²⁰ On Oahu, an unidentified man living in a tent at Sherwood Beach in Waimanalo was killed the night of September 7 when a large tree fell on the campsite, treated by police as an unattended death with no foul play suspected. ¹³ At least one additional injury was reported on Kauai. ²⁰

The power grid took the heaviest hit. Kauai Island Utility Cooperative lost power to roughly 90 to 92 percent of its customers — about 33,000 of 36,000 — after wind and rain tore into transmission and distribution lines. ^{17 43} Crews had restored about 25 percent, roughly 9,000 customers, by late September 9, prioritizing hospitals, most of which came back online, while isolated north-shore and far-west areas faced waits of days to a few weeks and Hawaiian Electric mutual-aid crews began arriving September 10. ^{43 45} On Oahu, outages peaked near 21,000 and were nearly fully restored by September 9, with only a few hundred still dark. ¹⁸

The tornado threat was unprecedented even if no twister was confirmed. The National Weather Service issued Hawaii's first-ever tornado watch on the afternoon of September 7 for Kauai and Niihau and adjacent waters, in effect overnight, with tornado warnings following because the southwest approach had put Kauai squarely in the right-front quadrant where tropical-cyclone physics most favors tornadoes. ^{3 36} As of September 8 no tornadoes had been officially confirmed, though one account suggested a possible brief tornado near Koloa that may have lofted light debris. ³

Governor Josh Green had issued a statewide state of emergency on September 3 covering Lowell and other systems, activating the National Guard, the Major Disaster Fund and related authorities through November 1. ¹⁴ After touring Kauai on September 9 he said initial estimates indicate the storm will cost more than $400 million there — more than Hurricane Lala earlier in 2026 — describing devastating shoreline damage on the south and north coasts while the interior was less affected. ^{12 21} That same day he submitted an expedited request to President Trump for a Presidential Major Disaster Declaration for Kauai and Maui counties, seeking to skip the usual joint preliminary damage assessment; it had not been approved as of the morning of September 10. ¹⁴

Lowell has already moved on. By the September 9 late-afternoon advisory it was about 610 miles northwest of Lihue, down to 50 mph sustained winds, moving west and weakening, with no coastal watches or warnings remaining for Hawaii. ⁴ Life-threatening surf and inundation peaked during closest approach and lingered about a day after the center left; by September 9 and 10 high-surf warnings had expired or were winding down, though elevated seas and rip-current risk were still flagged and authorities kept warning people away from the shoreline as cleanup began. ³⁰ One early network account misplaced the worst hit in a Poe neighborhood on the island of Hawaii; the confirmed flattened homes and the 90-percent outage were on Kauai, along the Poipu shoreline. ^{20 23}