Hurricane Lowell Leaves One Dead and Kauai in the Dark: What to Know About Hawaii's Recovery

TOPSHOT - Palm trees bend from strong winds as an CH-47 Chinook helicopter flies over Barbers Point in Kapolei, Hawaii, on September 7, 2026. A hurricane warning was issued September 7 for the westernmost Hawaiian islands of Kauai and Niihau as Category 3 Hurricane Lowell approached the US Pacific island chain, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said. The core of Lowell was expected to pass just west of Niihau on the night of September 7 or early on September 8, the center said in its latest bulletin released at 8 am Hawaii time (1800GMT). (Photo by Michelle Bir / AFP via Getty Images) (Credit: Photo by Michelle Bir / AFP via Getty Images)

A hurricane that spent much of early September flirting with Category 5 strength brushed past Hawaii's western islands this week, and the toll is now coming into focus: one confirmed death, a Kauai power grid crippled across nine of every ten homes, and a National Guard deployment spread across four islands. Lowell never made a direct landfall, but the storm's outer wind field was enough to snap power poles, tear apart a small-boat harbor, and force schools shut through the rest of the week.

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