HONOLULU — Hurricane Lowell’s damaging winds and heavy rain knocked out power across Kauai on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026, with the island cooperative reporting that nearly all of its members were without electricity early in the day even as the storm’s core pulled away to the north.

Associated Press reporting carried by the Guardian said fierce winds downed trees on Kauai — home to about 73,000 residents — and that Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) found nearly all customers dark. Emergency officials told residents to stay off roads while damage assessments began.

“As the light comes up and the extent of the damage from Hurricane Lowell comes into focus, we want to ensure that no additional emergency situations arise unnecessarily.” — Elton Ushio, Kauai Emergency Management Agency (via AP/Guardian)

Civil Beat reported Kauai EMA chief Ushio describing a “huge restoration process” after nearly the entire island went dark overnight, with helicopters queued for daylight surveys. KIUC Member Services manager Beth Amaro said crews waited for sunrise to inspect lines — including a mainland drone team that arrived over the weekend — and called same-day restorations “unlikely,” while leaving open that some power could return: “We have to inspect, we have to repair, before we can restore.” Amaro said the co-op hoped to say by end of day whether outages would last days or potentially weeks. Tens of thousands also lost power on Oahu, per Hawaiian Electric’s outage map cited by Civil Beat.

National Hurricane Center / Central Pacific Hurricane Center Advisory 51 (1100 AM HST / 2100 UTC Tuesday) placed Lowell near 25.1°N, 160.8°W — about 230 miles north-northwest of Lihue — moving north near 15 mph with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph (Category 1) and minimum pressure 979 mb. No coastal watches or warnings remained in effect. NHC still flagged additional rainfall of 1–3 inches for Kauai (storm totals up to 24 inches possible), plus flash-flood and mudslide risk, especially on portions of the Big Island.

Hurricane warnings for Kauai and Niihau and the tropical storm warning for Oahu had already been lifted Tuesday morning local time after the center passed west of the islands, AP reported. Gov. Josh Green closed schools and government offices on Oahu and in Kauai County for the day.

Forecast cones fade; power poles do not. Lowell’s core is leaving Hawaii’s map — and Kauai is still counting how long the lights stay out.

Sources