Hawaiians reeling from back-to-back hurricanes as Nolo’s threats diminish

HILO, Hawaii — Hawaiians have storm fatigue, Hilo’s mayor said Sunday, as the third hurricane to approach the islands in recent weeks continues to spin offshore.

The relatively calm state has been battered by the effects of multiple hurricanes, including Lala, Lowell and now Nolo, as the eastern and central Pacific have churned out at least 19 named storms. None of the three hurricanes has made landfall in Hawaii.

“So there’s storm fatigue and there’s some PTSD,” Mayor Kimo Alameda told NBC News on Sunday.

“I mean, you know, there’s a lot of anxiety around the weather now. You know, a lot of our folks out in the south side, they experienced, you know, catastrophic flooding,” he said, referring to the impacts of Hurricane Lala last month.

That storm killed two people, Alameda said, and damaged more than 200 homes without making landfall. Gov. Josh Green subsequently issued three disaster proclamations related to damage from separate storms in September alone.

Officials have reported some rescues but no deaths or major damage from Nolo.

“We did take some hits in some parts of the island,” Alameda said. “For the most part, we dodged a huge bullet. It could have been much worse.”

More than 120 National Guard members were activated on the island for Nolo, among roughly 400 statewide, after Green issued an emergency proclamation. President Donald Trump recently approved an emergency declaration, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate assistance and provide funding support.

In Nāʻālehu, at the island’s southern point, Peggy McKibbin surveyed silt-covered roads from her four-wheeler Sunday and pointed out the lingering damage from Lala — a bakery, a fire station and a hardware store wiped out.

“Everyone has been very much affected by this,” McKibbin said.

Nolo was a Category 4 major hurricane Sunday afternoon and forecast to strengthen, but the center was expected to remain south and southwest of the Hawaiian Islands.

A hurricane watch was in effect for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, which the storm was expected to approach Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

The Pacific has been unusually active this season, according to National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec, with storm activity running above average during what is already the peak of hurricane season. He said the pattern is consistent with El Niño years, when the Pacific often gets more tropical storms and hurricanes.

Alameda, Hilo’s mayor, said people are ready if another hurricane comes their way.

“Unfortunately, we’ve been having a lot of practice,” he said, noting a recent tsunami threat and earthquake, as well as a precautionary eye on the volcano Kīlauea.

Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, meanwhile, was bracing for the arrival of major Hurricane Polo on Monday after it lashed parts of the country’s southwest coast with rain and strong winds. Polo remained a dangerous Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 125 mph, the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Sunday afternoon.

Polo was moving to the north-northwest at 12 mph about 285 miles west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas at the peninsula’s southern tip, according to the hurricane center.

The Mexican navy said in a statement that it had gathered personnel and humanitarian aid in the ports of Guaymas and Mazatlán, on the Pacific Coast, and deployed three vessels that could ship aid to coastal communities isolated by the hurricane.

Also Sunday, Tropical Storm Rachel formed off Mexico’s southwest coast. Rachel had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and was about 275 miles south of Acapulco. A tropical storm watch was in effect.

Ryan Chandler, Shanshan Dong and The Associated Press reported from Hilo and Dennis Romero from San Diego.