Lala’s damage fell lightest on Kaua‘i as the storm moved south of the Garden Isle.
Still, Kauaʻi remained battle-ready after experiencing previous storms, including Iniki, which tore across the island in 1992.
The Conversation spoke with the Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative about Lala's impact and lessons learned from previous storms.
Beth Amaro is the member services and communications manager at KIUC.
“I think, relatively speaking, our impacts were not as severe as the other islands,” Amaro said. “We feel very thankful for that, not to say that there weren't inconveniences, and obviously there were outages, and there is damage to repair. But overall, I think it's an event that will hopefully, by the end of this week, have most, if not all, of the outages restored and be relatively back to normal.”
Amaro said the outages occurred island-wide and were mostly caused by trees falling or blowing into the lines and poles. The peak occurred on Sunday morning when about 7,000 customers were without power, but by the end of the day, the number dropped into the hundreds.
Amaro said KICU has been working to make the grid more resilient for emergency events.
“We're staging materials so that they're not in one central area, but they're available to crews throughout the island if needed to restore,” she said. “We're fueling vehicles. We're making sure our solar BESS (battery energy storage systems) are charged up and doing public notifications.” That's an important part: helping our members understand how they can be prepared and what they can expect. … because we just don't know how long it might take to get systems restored.”
KICU is offering a new rebate program for its members with electricity-dependent medical needs.
“It's basically a $200 rebate for a person who is signed up on our list of persons with known medical needs,” Amaro said. “You just have to have a doctor sign off on the fact that you have some type of device or medication that needs electricity for safety reasons, and they sign off on a form, and then you are noted in our list. So then we know where these members are, and we can make special notifications, etc. But then that also qualifies you for a $200 rebate for a personal backup device.”
Amaro said nearly 100 people have registered as needing power for medical devices, and she’s encouraging members to take advantage of that $200 rebate to help with power backup. So far, only five people have received that rebate.
Amaro expressed KICU’s appreciation for its members' patience and understanding during the outages. She also emphasized that the crews restoring power take it very personally.
“They want to get that power back as quickly as possible,” she said. “It's a point of personal pride for them to get you back and restored as quickly as possible, but they have to be safe in doing so. But they are working as hard as they can, and they are extremely motivated to get to you as soon as they possibly can.”
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 19, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Hannah Kaʻiulani Coburn adapted this story for the web.
