Spotlight Now: How recent storms exposed Hawaii’s fragile infrastructure

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaiʻi is facing significant challenges to its critical infrastructure following consecutive impacts from the March Kona lows, Hurricane Lala, and Hurricane Lowell.

On Spotlight Now, local officials and climate experts examined what these back-to-back storms mean for the islands’ critical systems.

Water grid vulnerable to power failures

Board of Water Supply Manager and Chief Engineer Ernie Lau explained that Oʻahu’s drinking water system depends heavily on power from Hawaiian Electric to deliver water to customers. When the power goes out, municipal water service is immediately at risk.

“Out of Tropical Storm Lala, we established a daily coordination call with Hawaiian Electric and explained to them our priorities of restoration of power to certain wells in different communities and they were extremely responsive,” Lau said. “But the fact is our infrastructure is vulnerable so how do we continue to harden that infrastructure, but continue to deal with these storm events and be able to recover from it?”

Experts warn of a ‘whack-a-mole’ response

University of Hawaiʻi climatologist Dr. Chip Fletcher, from the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, said the climate trend is clear.

“This is a glimpse into the future. The trend is going to continue this way,” Fletcher said. “Future conditions will bring more and more hazards. We must comprehensively and systematically examine the role of government in raising resiliency and protecting our community.”

Fletcher said the state needs to invest not only in a comprehensive climate change strategy, but also in critical infrastructure upgrades.

“We do not yet have a comprehensive systemic analysis of how the government of Hawaiʻi, both state and county, is going to respond to this problem of climate change,” Fletcher said. “And because of that, we are still playing whack-a-mole. We’re still getting surprised by these events. However, by this time in 2026, following the fourth or fifth big flood event, we are no longer surprised. We see it coming.”

Impending wildfire threats

Fletcher warned that beyond this hurricane season, a new trend is expected to emerge as a result of the ongoing super El Niño season.

“As we move through the fall and winter, December starts to dry out,” Fletcher said, “which will continue into the spring of 2027. With all the rainfall in the summer and fall we’re going to see an increase of invasive grasses in unmanaged lands. Combined with the drought over the winter, spring, and next summer, we may expect an increase for wildfires, so now is the time to prepare.”