{"id":679808,"date":"2026-03-25T03:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/679808\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T03:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T03:25:16","slug":"update-hawaii-county-remains-under-flood-watch-until-745-p-m-tuesday-400-damage-reports-filed-from-kona-low-storms-big-island-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/679808\/","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Hawai\u2018i County remains under flood watch until 7:45 p.m. Tuesday; 400 damage reports filed from Kona low storms : Big Island Now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Update: March 24, 4: 25 p.m.: <\/strong>The National Weather Service has extended the flood watch on portions of the Big Island until 7:45 p.m. Tuesday.<\/p>\n

At 4:11 p.m., radar and automated rain gauges indicated heavy rain showers over Kohala and Hilo districts, along with Puna and Ka\u02bb\u016b. Rain was falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour. The heaviest rainfall is occurring near Pahala. Additional heavy showers are expected.<\/p>\n

Original post, March 24, 11:50 a.m.:<\/strong> On Tuesday morning, the sun was shining in Hilo and Kona. But the National Weather Service in Honolulu said a flood watch remains in place for Hawai\u02bbi County through 6 a.m. Wednesday, with the forecast continuing to predict the possibility of heavy showers and thunderstorms.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could get some additional heavy rain in some areas, so I\u2019d say we\u2019re not out of the woods yet,\u201d said Thomas Vaughan, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.<\/p>\n

The northeastern areas of the island are most favored for rainfall.<\/p>\n

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The county already has received more than 400 reports from residents and commercial properties for damage suffered during the two Kona low systems that hit the Big Island in March.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>P\u0101hala road damage following Kona low thunderstorms on March 23, 2026. (Photo courtesy: Hawai\u2018i County Mayor Kimo Alameda)<\/p>\n

Two Kona low systems that hit the Big Island were about a week apart. The first occurred on March 14<\/a>, when properties in the Ka\u2018\u016b and South Kona Districts were flooded and damaged. <\/p>\n

The second system hit on Monday and brought thunderstorms that forced airplanes to ground at Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport<\/a> and knocked out power for nearly 1,400 Hawaiian Electric customers in the Kealakehe and H\u014dlualoa areas, before moving to the eastside of the island.<\/p>\n

Hawai\u02bbi County Mayor Kimo Alameda estimates the storms have caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, especially with Monday\u2019s lightning strikes.<\/p>\n

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Alameda said he is currently working with the Hawai\u2018i Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency on damage assessments in hopes of getting funding to help residents, farmers and ranchers recover from the losses.<\/p>\n

Greenwell Coffee Farms<\/a> was hit particularly hard on March 14, where Tom Greenwell, owner of the coffee farm estimates millions of dollars in damage to one of his three farms.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Flood damage and debris through the Greenwell Coffee Farm nursery in South Kona following the Kona low storm on March 14, 2026. (Photo courtesy: Tom Greenwell)<\/p>\n

Following the first Kona low, Konawaena High School, Konawaena Middle School and Ke Kula \u02bbO \u02bbEhunuikaimalino also were damaged in the storm and remain closed for the rest of the week for cleanup and repair.<\/p>\n

Also on Monday, lightning struck a power box at the Pana\u2018ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens in Hilo, knocking out its power in the front gift shop, Alameda said. The zoo will reopen, but will be running on a generator.<\/p>\n

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Lightning also hit \u201cSparky\u201d Kawamoto Swim Stadium. It caused the pump to go out, but it has been fixed. Lightning also struck at Carvalho Park, where damage is still being assessed.<\/p>\n

Alameda said heavy rain fell in P\u0101hala off of Pikake Street, where it uprooted pavement.\u00a0Contractors will do repairs on Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A power box at Pana\u2018ewa Rainforest Zoo and Gardens was fried after being hit by lightning on March 23, 2026. (Photo courtesy: Hawai\u2018i County Mayor Kimo Alameda<\/p>\n

The county continues to accept damage reports<\/a> at the Hawai\u2018i County Civil Defense Agency website.<\/p>\n

Farmers seeking aid are also encouraged to participate in a damage survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hawai\u2018i Volcanoes National Park has partially reopened, with access restored to the K\u012blauea summit area and Chain of Craters Road. Work continues to clear and repair remaining areas impacted by last week\u2019s storm and the recent eruption.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Update: March 24, 4: 25 p.m.: The National Weather Service has extended the flood watch on portions of…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":679809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[23],"tags":[746,24181,21647,56319,285986,285987,176780,279473,285988,6231,285989,159,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-679808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-flood-watch","tag-hawaii-county","tag-hiwx","tag-kawamoto-swim-stadium","tag-ke-kula-o-ehunuikaimalino","tag-kimo-alameda","tag-kona-low","tag-konawaena-middle-school","tag-national-weather-service","tag-panaewa-rainforest-zoo-and-gardens","tag-science","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116287683161268821","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}