Hurricane season in Hawaiʻi traditionally falls between June to November.
The Honolulu Board of Water Supply wants the public to consider what Hawaiʻi just experienced with the recent back-to-back Kona low storms.
Residents are still recovering from the devastation that caused close to $1 billion in damages to roads, schools and communities across the state.
Heed the warnings and be as prepared as you can is the message that Ernie Lau, manager and chief engineer of the Honolulu Board of Water Supply, wants to underscore now.
Some are characterizing the potential for more intense storms this hurricane season. There could be a super El Niño when water in the Pacific heats up, setting up conditions for more frequent and stronger storms in the region.
Interview highlights
On how a hurricane would affect running water
ERNIE LAU: Because we depend on electricity to pump most of our drinking water, to supply a million people every day with water when the electricity goes out, we will be struggling with that. My recommendation to everybody is be prepared. We need to be more self-reliant, able to handle the situation even without first responders or government coming in. ...
But now think of a hurricane affecting our island, where we could lose power, island-wide. So I just want people to know that we have water tanks that store water, but really, it's only good for probably a couple days of low-water usage. So after that, we'll start to run out of water. We'll deploy our generators to actually start pumping water with emergency power. But we don't have enough generators to cover almost 200 different pumping stations around the island, so we are going to ask people to conserve water. And there may be parts of the island where there's not going to be any water coming under your pipes. Our focus is going to be in areas where we can cover as much people as we can cover and also address water supply for critical facilities like hospitals.
On emergency preparedness
LAU: We give free emergency water containers that fold flat and can store up to about 2.5 gallons of water. And people can come down to the Board of Water Supply: 630 S Beretania St., and pick up these emergency water containers for free. The recommendations are at least one gallon per day for 14 days for each person in your family. But if you can store more water, that'll be even more helpful. One gallon a day just gives you enough to say, "survive." It doesn't help you with your other things, like hygiene and other things that you might need water for. So one gallon is probably the minimum. If you can store more water, that would be advisable. ...
Yeah, you can use (rain barrels) for things that you don't drink, like flushing your toilets, maybe even washing your clothes with it. But rain barrels are a good thing. You'll have to make sure they're well anchored, because we're talking about potentially hurricane-force winds affecting our island. But those are all good ways to store water. ... As soon as the power goes out, think about conserving water. And if you're able to store water ahead of time, before a storm is coming, that's even better. But power goes out, we can't pump. Conserve water.
On precautions BWS is taking to prepare for weather emergencies
LAU: We are getting prepared, making sure that all our generators are working, looking at our emergency response plans. We'll be at different community events, encouraging people to be prepared, and handing out the emergency water containers to people so that they can help get ready. We are an island community, and when there's a disaster, I know that community is going to help the community. People are going to help people. So, another thing I suggest is get to know your neighbors, people in your community, because those are the people that you're going to maybe have to look at helping, or they might be there to help you in a disaster, before we can get the first responders out and others to get to your location.
The public can prepare for hurricane season by understanding forecast information and by monitoring the Central Pacific Hurricane Center.
This story aired on The Conversation on May 13, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this interview for the web.
