In Nāʻālehu on Hawaiʻi Island sits Punaluʻu Bake Shop, a sweetbread bakery that sells thousands of its famous malasadas every day and attracts nearly half a million visitors each year.
After Hurricane Lala, however, the beloved local business was left devastated by storm damage.
General Manager Zach Kennedy sent out an update early Monday morning with before-and-after photos of the area. The bake shop, bakery and outdoor gazebo were all caked with mud and debris.
Kennedy spoke with HPR about how the bakery, and the community it supports, has been coping with the catastrophic damage.
“At about like 9 o’clock at night, something dramatically shifted,” he said, recalling the night of the storm.
“One of the waterways broke free and caused a wall of water to come down the hill, and it took out the cemetery, and it caused a tremendous amount of rock, mud, tree debris to go right through the bakery.”
Kennedy told HPR that he was left without power after the storm, leaving him disconnected from his employees.
“It's been incredibly emotionally draining … not being able to communicate with them and check with them if they're okay, it causes a lot of worry,” he said. “They're our family. We take care of each other.”
In the immediate aftermath of the storm, Kennedy was able to recover some of the bakery’s products to aid his community.
“Being able to give the product that was still good to the community to help them out, it was number one priority today … and I'm just so grateful that it was still cold, frozen, and ready to be handed out to hundreds of people.”
Punaluʻu Bake Shop is not alone, as many communities in the Kaʻū district were among the hardest-hit areas after Hurricane Lala.
In a press conference given on Monday, Hawaiʻi Gov. Josh Green and Hawaiʻi County Mayor Kimo Alameda confirmed one fatality from floods in the area.
As the area recovers, Kennedy encourages supporters to keep the area clear for community members and to remain engaged with their recovery efforts.
“It's going to take us time to start clearing it out, and then start planning for the future,” he told HPR.
“I just want to take a moment to thank the community who helped us distribute product out today, and you know, stay tuned. We'll give you guys updates and we'll try to come back stronger and better than before.”
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 18, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
