The North Kohala district on Hawaiʻi Island sustained heavy damage from Tropical Storm Lala, and many there lost power for several days. The Kohala Food Hub is a group that’s been affected — but is still helping the community.
The southern portion of Hawaiʻi Island sustained severe damage from Tropical Storm Lala. Among the businesses damaged was the famed Punaluʻu Bake Shop in Nāʻālehu.
But the northern end of the island was also impacted by storm damage. Hawaiian Electric says it may take up to two weeks to restore power in some of those rural communities.
The nonprofit Kohala Food Hub was forced to halt its usual food deliveries to communities around Hawaiʻi Island.
Maya Parish is Kohala Food Hub's executive director. She says anything like the disruption caused by Lala will have ripple effects for some time. Parish says the devastation sustained by the farms that her food hub works with will linger for weeks, if not months.
She says that even though they aren’t able to deliver, Kohala Food Hub is still managing food and helping communities in need around Hawaiʻi Island. She says earlier this week they picked up two thousand pounds of ice from the Mauna Kea Resort for refrigeration. And the food hub also held a hot food distribution at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church in Kohala.
Parish says Kohala Food Hub has also offered a pay-what-you-can produce distribution this week to provide food for community members in Kohala who are still without power.
