Hawaii is once again bracing for dangerous weather, as Tropical Storm Moke churns through the Central Pacific and threatens to dump more than a foot of rain on the Big Island, barely a week after Hurricane Lala left a trail of destruction across the same communities. For a state that hasn't seen a direct hurricane landfall since 1992, the back-to-back nature of these two storms has stunned residents, emergency officials and meteorologists alike.
A State Still Recovering
Hurricane Lala, a Category 1 storm, passed roughly 30 miles off the coast of the Big Island just days earlier, but its proximity was close enough to cause serious damage. The storm dumped over 30 inches of rain in the highest elevations, triggering flash floods and mudslides that tore through several towns. At least one person, a 90-year-old woman, died after being caught in floodwaters, more than 100 homes were damaged or destroyed, and over 8,000 residents were left without electricity, with utility officials warning full restoration wouldn't come until early September.
That disturbance was quickly followed by Tropical Depression Two-C, which by Friday had strengthened into Tropical Storm Moke, joining Lala as the second named storm to threaten the islands within a single week. According to meteorologists, this kind of back-to-back tropical threat has happened to Hawaii only once before since 1950.
Why The Rainfall Threat Is So Serious
As of early Sunday, Moke's center sat roughly 300 to 425 miles south-southeast of Hilo, carrying maximum sustained winds of 45 to 50 mph and forecast to pass south of the Big Island before weakening. Unlike Lala, Moke was expected to stay farther offshore and arrive as a comparatively weaker system — but forecasters warned a weaker, more distant storm can still cause outsized damage when it strikes ground already saturated by a previous one.
Forecasters projected general rainfall totals of 5 to 10 inches on the Big Island, with isolated pockets on the windward and southeastern slopes potentially receiving as much as 15 inches or more. The same watersheds and hillsides battered by Lala remained unstable, and officials warned it would take far less rainfall than usual to trigger life-threatening flash flooding and landslides. A flood watch was issued for the Big Island through Monday afternoon, alongside wind advisories with gusts up to 55 mph in higher terrain.
Emergency Preparations On The Ground
The County of Hawaii reactivated shelters and urged residents in flood-prone areas to relocate ahead of the worst conditions, while crews spent the weekend clearing storm drains and inspecting infrastructure weakened by Lala. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park closed as a precaution. Hawaii's governor addressed the public directly, urging residents to take the threat seriously despite Moke's smaller size, and noted the storm likely wouldn't be the last significant weather system to affect the islands in the near term.
Meteorologists have placed the back-to-back storms within a broader pattern, noting that systems in the Central Pacific increasingly form later in the season, intensify more quickly and produce heavier rainfall than storms of similar strength did in past decades, as warmer sea-surface temperatures provide more energy and moisture. For now, officials are stressing the immediate and practical: avoid flooded roadways, have evacuation plans ready in hillside communities, and stay alert through Monday as Moke's final rain bands move through.