HONOLULU — Thousands were without power Monday after Tropical Storm Lala uprooted trees from downtown Honolulu to the Big Island, where intense flash-flooding and strong winds isolated already-remote communities.
\n\nIn the hard-hit southern end of the Big Island, communities were isolated as they were cut off from communication and roads were blocked by debris. Floodwaters disturbed some grave sites.
\n\nOfficials announced one fatality blamed on the storm — a 90-year-old woman who had been reported missing in Naalehu and then found dead on Monday. Additional details about the death weren’t immediately available.
\n\nLala weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm Sunday after lashing the state without making landfall. Intense rainfall and flooding caused a muddy mess as the storm moved past Hawaii’s main islands.
\n\nThe flooding proved to be more destructive than the wind, said Gov. Josh Green, who flew over and walked through the south part of the island Monday.
\n\n“It’s the flood and the mud and the rock the poured through Naalehu, Pahala, Waiohinu,” he said. “These communities have a lot of cleanup to do and they’re going to need a lot of support.”
\n\nThe storm was projected to continue moving westward and was forecast to become…
Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/health