World · Big Island delugeHurricane Lala Becomes Hurricane Off Big Island as Hawaii Faces 24-Inch DelugeAired August 17, 2026 at 10:02 AM UTCWritten September 7, 2026 at 9:22 PM UTCRead the write-upThis storyTranscript · LOADING0:00Hurricane Lola has strengthened from a0:01tropical storm into a hurricane [music]0:03just off Hawaii's Big Island. And0:05Hawaii's governor is warning the next 80:07hours will be consequential as heavy0:09rain, flooding, and power [music]0:11outages intensify and spread toward Maui0:13and Oahu. The warning centers on the0:15southern Big Island first [music] with0:17statewide coordination as the system0:19tracks closer to neighboring islands.0:21The system is already delivering about 20:23inches of rain per hour with up to 100:25inches observed in parts [music] of the0:27Big Island. Debris reported on roads and0:29between 5,000 and 6,000 people already0:32without power. That observed total is0:34less than half of what forecasters0:36expect [music] overall with 18 to 240:38inches forecast raising the threat of0:40life-threatening flooding and mudslides0:41on volcanic terrain, gale winds, and0:43multi-day outages. The upgrade [music]0:45to hurricane marks a sharp escalation0:47from earlier tracking that had described0:4960 mph winds forecast [music] to become0:51a category 1 hurricane and it now puts0:53the next 8-hour window at the center of0:55[music] the response. That later account0:57conflicts directly with the hurricane0:59warnings and statewide tropical storm1:01warnings and flight [music]1:02cancellations reported in earlier days1:04and leaves open how much of the forecast1:06flooding, [music]1:07landslides, gale winds, and outages will1:10still reach Maui and Oahu [music]1:12through the warning window and beyond.1:13This account comes from a single video1:15published [music] August 15th at 23:081:17UTC that has not yet been independently1:20corroborated, which is why the confirmed1:22picture stops with the hurricane nearing1:23the Big Island while the larger impacts1:25remain forecast rather than confirmed.1:28Like and follow for more stories that1:30matter.Explore with HeyDexThe shortThe short ↗