Hurricane Lala charges toward Hawaii, leaving over 40,000 without power

Hurricane Lala approaches Hawaii with strong winds and heavy rain, leaving more than 40,000 utility customers without power across the state as the National Hurricane Center warned of “life-threatening” conditions.

The poweroutage.com website showed 42,889 customers without power as of 2:14 p.m. HST (0014 GMT today) in Hawaii, including 31,792 on the Big Island and 7,203 in Maui County, which includes the islands of Maui, Lanai and Molokai.

An advisory from the hurricane center at 2 p.m. HST predicted 10 to 20 inches (25.4 to 51 cm) of rain on the Big Island, and possibly up to 25 inches there, as well as 8 to 12 inches in eastern Maui and 4 to 6 inches in western Maui.

“This rainfall will produce life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain,” the center says.

Hawaiian Electric warned customers to expect “possible extended outages, potentially overnight,” as the storm system made its way westward across Hawaii. On the Hamakua Coast on the Big Island, utility crews are assessing a 42-mile (67.6 km) span of transmission lines after fallen trees knocked down multiple poles and structures, Hawaiian Electric spokesperson Darren Pai told TV station Hawaii News Now.