Kauai police have confirmed a third death connected to Hurricane Lowell after a 59-year-old man was found dead in Wainiha, near the intersection of Kuhio Highway and Wainiha Powerhouse Road. Officers responded to a report of a deceased man in the area around 1 p.m. on September 11, and an autopsy is still pending to determine his exact cause of death.
Police withheld the man's identity pending notification of next of kin, according to Hawaii News Now. The station reports that foul play is not suspected in the death, and that the area where the man was discovered experienced significant flooding during Hurricane Lowell. The location has a long history of flash flooding, notably during the historic April 2018 rainstorm that washed out the road and destroyed two homes, according to the National Weather Service. That 2018 flood led to $1.6 million in federal disaster repair grants for Wainiha Powerhouse Road.
Neighbors in Wainiha have described the man as a helpful handyman who spent his time assisting others with local storm cleanup, per Honolulu Civil Beat. Investigators are continuing to work the case, and anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers Kauai at (808) 246-8300, or submit tips through crimestopperskauai.org or the Crime Stoppers Kauai P3 Tips mobile app.
A Rising Death Toll Across the Islands
The Wainiha death brings the confirmed statewide toll from Hurricane Lowell to three, with two fatalities on Kauai and one on Oahu, the same Civil Beat report notes. The first came on September 7, when a 31-year-old unhoused man was killed in Waimānalo, Oahu, after a falling tree struck his tent during high winds, according to the Associated Press.
Two days later, 74-year-old Steven Palama was found dead near Nomilu Fishpond on Kauai's South Shore after attempting to protect his family's historic fishpond from storm surge, as Hoodline previously reported. Palama was remembered as a respected local kiaʻi whose family had cared for the 60-acre fishpond for more than a century.
A Storm That Never Made Landfall Still Devastated Kauai
Hurricane Lowell never made direct landfall on Kauai, but its offshore trajectory produced destructive storm surge, wind gusts topping 80 mph, and localized flash flooding that crippled the island's power grid. The storm passed within 50 to 80 miles of Kauai overnight on September 7 into 8 as a Category 2 system, marking the closest pass of a hurricane that strong since Hurricane Iniki hit the island as a Category 4 storm in 1992, according to Cotality.
The islandwide power outage that followed was severe: nearly 90% of the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative's 36,000 members lost electricity due to downed transmission lines and falling trees, the County of Kauai reported. Hawaii Governor Josh Green requested a federal major disaster declaration from President Donald Trump on September 10 after estimating statewide damages at over $400 million, the Associated Press reported.
North Shore Remains Isolated as Repairs Continue
The Hawaii Department of Transportation restricted Kuhio Highway near the double bridges in Wainiha to local traffic only on September 11, enforcing a 5-ton weight limit to protect compromised road infrastructure during recovery efforts. Kuhio Highway serves as the sole vehicular access road connecting Wainiha and Haena to the rest of Kauai, leaving those communities isolated whenever flooding hits low-lying crossings like the one where the Wainiha man was found.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority has urged prospective travelers to postpone or reschedule visits to Kauai to avoid straining local infrastructure while emergency repairs and power restoration continue, according to Go Hawaii. Lihue Airport was forced to operate on emergency generator power following the storm. Separately, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs approved $362,800 in emergency financial aid on September 10 to help Native Hawaiian families affected by prolonged outages and storm damage across Kauai, Niihau, and Oahu, Hoodline previously reported.
Autopsies remain pending for both Kauai victims as investigators work to finalize official causes of death. The investigation into the Wainiha man's death remains ongoing.
