Hurricane Nolo tests a Hawaii still digging out from storm damage

By Daniel Okafor · Reporting from New York · September 26, 2026

As Hurricane Nolo threatens Hawaii with severe rain, repeated storms compound existing damage and force vulnerable communities into a long recovery before basic repairs are finished.

A slow storm on the water

The storm sits south of South Point. It moves north-northeast at 3 mph. On Friday evening, the National Hurricane Center measured maximum sustained winds at 105 mph. That makes Hurricane Nolo a Category 2 hurricane.

Data from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center traces its path as the storm gained strength.

NBC News reported that Nolo is the third hurricane to pass Hawaii in less than two months, following Hurricane Lala and Hurricane Lowell. A record-setting El Niño causes the active season through rising sea surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific, according to NBC News and Yale Climate Connections.

Tess Kala lives at South Point. "Honestly, this is the first like, whoa, what happened?" she said. "We had a lot of family and friends that have lived here all their lives through generations and never experienced this before."

Hurricane Lane showed the exact same mechanism in 2018. A powerful hurricane passed south of Hawaii and caused catastrophic rainfall and flooding on the Big Island without making direct landfall. Nolo follows that same path today.

Water rises over the roads

Rainfall totals will overwhelm the southern and eastern slopes. The National Hurricane Center forecasts 8 to 12 inches of rain in eastern and southern Big Island, with maximums up to 16 inches. Forecasters from FOX Weather and Yale Climate Connections expect localized totals to reach even higher.

Michael Brennan, director of the U.S. National Hurricane Center, said that people should shelter in place. "Don't venture out if you don't have to into the dangerous flooding environment, but also high winds," he said. "We can have trees and power lines down."

Erika Kapu, Hawaii program manager for the humanitarian non-profit CORE, said that crews spent hours Friday building berms and moving large debris. Dean Taise watched water start to get into his driveway from the street. "They say, prepare for the worst, right? Hope for the best," he said.

High winds closed a 20-mile stretch of road in North Kohala, Hawaii News Now reported. Hawaiian Electric deployed workers to Hawaii Island, Oahu, and Maui County, and airlines canceled at least 21 flights at Hilo Airport. The Hawaii National Guard deployed high-water rescue vehicles across the Big Island.

President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Hawaii on Friday, according to NBC News and CBC News. Governor Josh Green requested the declaration to provide federal assistance for emergency protective measures.

How many years will recovery take?

Mark Peters has lived in Naalehu for seven years. He lived through Hurricane Lala, where he saw cars and houses moved and buildings sitting inside the baseball field at Waiohinu Park. Now he faces Nolo.

"It hurts me when I see friends and neighbors and people of this community that I know, and I just see it in their eyes, I hear it in their voices," Peters said. "We’ve been through a lot down here, and we still got a lot to go."

"We’re just getting started with our recovery," Peters said. "But to have yet another big storm hit us, and potentially even bigger than the last one, it’s difficult."

"We’re talking years," Peters said. "This is going to be a long recovery."

Like Hurricane Maria in 2017, which struck a territory with existing vulnerabilities and forced a long-term recovery process, Nolo arrives before the soil has dried or the last roof has been fixed. The federal declaration brings funds, but concrete and timber move slower than water. Nolo tests an island chain that has already spent its summer digging out.

Hurricane Nolo tests a Hawaii still digging out from storm damage

A slow storm on the water

Water rises over the roads

How many years will recovery take?

Sources