Four West Maui public schools closed Tuesday after Hurricane Lowell's storm surge buried Honoapiʻilani Highway near Olowalu in rocks and debris, cutting off the only road connecting Lahaina to Central Maui. Princess Nāhiʻenaʻena Elementary, King Kamehameha III Elementary, Lahaina Intermediate, and Lahainaluna High all shut down because buses could not safely travel between West Maui campuses and the rest of the island.
The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education ordered the closures after determining travel conditions along the highway were unsafe, according to the agency. Maui Police had already implemented a full closure of Honoapiʻilani Highway between Kapoli Street in Māʻalaea and Ehehene Street in Olowalu late Monday night, after hurricane-driven storm surge washed rocks and debris across the roadway, as reported by Maui Now. The Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation, which supplied photos documenting the damage, said rocks and debris covered the highway between mile markers 11 and 13 near Papalaua Beach Park and Ukumehame as early as Monday.
Kīhei Roads Also Buried Under Storm Surge
High surf and ocean debris forced police to close multiple segments of South Kīhei Road overnight, including sections between North Kīhei Road, Ohukai Road, Kaonoulu Road, and Kanani Road. North Kīhei Road itself was also shut down, per the Hawaiʻi Department of Transportation. County officials additionally closed Front Street in Lahaina in both directions from Kapunakea Street north to Honoapiʻilani Highway because of storm impacts.
Storm damage was not confined to West and South Maui. Fallen trees and rockslides blocked lanes of Hāna Highway in East Maui at Mile Marker 16.5 near Keʻanae over the weekend, according to Hawaiʻi Public Radio, showing how the storm's hazards reached even the island's more remote, narrow coastal routes.
Shelters Opened as Category 5 Storm Skirted the Islands
Ahead of Lowell's peak approach, Maui County and the American Red Cross opened emergency shelters Monday at Hāna High & Elementary School, Lahaina Civic Center Gym, and South Maui Community Park Gym in Kīhei, according to Maui County. The storm reached Category 5 intensity twice in the Central Pacific with sustained winds of 160 mph before weakening to a Category 1 storm as it passed west of Hawaiʻi, making it the basin's first Category 5 storm since Hurricane Walaka in 2018, per Wikipedia.
The National Weather Service forecast additional rainfall of 2 to 5 inches, with localized amounts up to 10 inches, across Maui County Tuesday, and maintained a statewide Flood Watch and High Surf Warning for south-facing shores, according to CBS News. Photographer Piezoelectric also supplied images documenting Lowell's impacts at Kamaʻole and Cove Park in South Maui, and the outlet said it is accepting further visuals of severe weather damage for publication while urging people not to risk their safety to obtain images.
A Second Storm in Less Than a Month
Lowell's arrival came less than a month after Tropical Storm Lala affected the Hawaiian Islands in mid-August, compounding strain on community disaster preparations and infrastructure maintenance, Maui County noted. The back-to-back systems left soils already saturated heading into Lowell's heavier rainfall, raising the risk of the mudslides and flash flooding seen this week.
The repeated closures also underscore a longer-standing vulnerability. Official Maui County hazard planning documents classify North Kīhei Road, which borders the Keālia Pond wetland area, as one of the island's most hazard-vulnerable transit corridors because of chronic coastal erosion and sea-level rise. County planners have evaluated long-term mitigation and potential realignment options for the low-lying route, though no timeline for such changes was included in the county's hazard documents.
Hoodline previously reported on Lowell's approach toward Oʻahu, where the storm brought drenching rain and tropical storm winds to Honolulu earlier in the week. As of Tuesday morning, Maui County had not announced a timeline for reopening Honoapiʻilani Highway or the affected Kīhei roads.
