As Kauaʻi residents slowly move into the recovery and cleanup phase across the island following Hurricane Lowell, some are left to pick up the pieces of both their homes and businesses.
Sierra-Lynn Stone, a sixth-generation kalo farmer on Kaua’i, runs two farms on the island’s north shore with her family. She said disaster preparation takes on a new layer for her and many farmers across Hawaiʻi as they must care for their land and animals on top of taking care of themselves and their families.
Despite a week’s worth of preparing for Hurricane Lowell, the storm still caused extensive damage to infrastructure and harmed crops across their land.
“It was just nonstop wind gusts, which was the part that was really unexpected for me,” Stone said. “You could hear things flying around in the yard, you could hear the wind ripping the shingles off of the roofs and things landing on the ground. It was just out of this world.”
Stone was just a baby when Hurricane Iniki hit 34 years ago this week, so she relied on those older than her to guide her through preparation efforts the week prior to Lowell. Her husband manned the machines on the farms, taking care of trees that were at risk of toppling over in the wind.
The day before the worst of the storm hit, Stone and her husband moved machines, supplies and their animals out to the open pasture to limit the risk of injury or damage.
They hunkered down in their cement garage that evening as the wind picked up, and she said she luckily was able to put her two kids to bed before the height of the storm.
“The fact that it happened at nighttime meant you can't really see all that's happening, you just hear things flying and falling and ripping,” she recalled. “Then when you woke up, and it was a beautiful day the next day, you really saw everything that happened the night before.”
Getting to both farms was nearly impossible, as the main highway was impassable because of fallen trees, debris and boulders that had blown into the road. Her husband and other neighbors jumped in their trucks, excavators and dozers to clear the debris.
On first arrival, Stone said she saw downed trees, broken pumps and exposed sheds that had roofs and windows just a day prior.
She said a lot of the crops were still flooded on Tuesday and most of the kalo are now “leafless and naked” with just the stalks sticking up through the mud. But she’s grateful that her family is safe, all animals are accounted for and that her harvest wasn’t completely ruined.
Her next step is to restore the ʻauwai, the irrigation system that supports the loʻi, to make sure the crops are still getting watered properly once the flooding recedes.
Stone's family is still without power, but they’re already out in the community checking in on neighbors and fellow farmers. She said without power, many residents were not aware of the extent of the damage to the rest of the island.
“I thought this was just a North Shore issue, and I'm still not even sure what part of the island got damaged or the extent of what this storm did,” she said. “I'm sure everybody has their hands full, but Kauaʻi is so resilient and we've been through a lot with natural disasters, floods, storms and what have you, so I'm certain that we're all going to get through this. It's just going to take some time.”
To help others or find resources in the wake of Hurricane Lowell, click here.
