Hawaii Gov. Green Requests Presidential Emergency Declaration After Hurricane Lala

Hawaii Governor Josh Green signed a request on August 22, 2026, asking the White House for a presidential emergency declaration after Hurricane Lala caused severe flooding, landslides, and power outages affecting roughly 200,000 customers.

Original report
mauinow.com

Industry impact

Widespread infrastructure damage and prolonged power outages across three Hawaii counties highlight vulnerabilities in island logistics and emergency response capacity ahead of further storm activity.

Hawaii Governor Josh Green on August 22, 2026, signed a formal request asking the White House to issue a presidential emergency declaration for Hawaii County, Maui County, and the City and County of Honolulu following Hurricane Lala, seeking immediate federal assistance as Tropical Storm Moke approaches. Hurricane Lala brought approximately 20 to 40 inches of rain to some areas, causing severe flooding, runoff, and landslides, with hundreds of homes damaged or destroyed and roads and bridges washed out. At the storm's peak, about 200,000 customers across Hawaii Island, Maui, and Oahu lost power; while service has largely been restored on Maui and Oahu, roughly 11,290 customers on Hawaii Island remained without electricity when the request was submitted, with restoration in some areas potentially extending through September 8.

The rural Ka'u District suffered some of the most severe impacts, including infrastructure damage along Hawaii Belt Road and extended power and communications outages affecting water systems, medical access, and emergency operations. On Oahu, heavy rain, high winds, flooding, and power outages disrupted transportation and essential services, and a severe slope failure at Na'alehu Cemetery disinterred human remains, requiring specialized mortuary resources. The state is requesting federal Public Assistance Category B emergency protective measures and Direct Federal Assistance, including deployment of Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team personnel, large-capacity emergency generators, and federal experts and equipment to establish microgrids or interim power systems.

Governor Green said he has been in direct contact with the White House and Cabinet officials, including Homeland Security Secretary Mullin, to advocate for urgent assistance. U.S. Senators Brian Schatz and Mazie K. Hirono, and U.S. Representatives Ed Case and Jill Tokuda, all Democrats representing Hawaii, issued a joint statement urging swift approval of the request. Hawaii is also continuing recovery from Kona Low storms and a magnitude-6.0 earthquake that struck the Kona region in May, with those successive disasters placing additional demands on state and county personnel, equipment, and financial resources.