When Hurricane Lala hit, the Building Industry Association of Hawaii was kicking off its annual exhibition at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
The BIG Home Building & Remodeling Show began on Friday, Aug. 14th and was scheduled to continue through the weekend, but deteriorating weather on Oʻahu forced its cancellation on Sunday. Roseann Freitas is the CEO of the BIA. She spoke with HPR to share what listeners need to know to prepare their homes for the next storm.
“Obviously, preparing for the storm is going to be the first and foremost,” she said.
“The best thing, though, really is to look at your home and probably have an expert come and look, and give you an assessment of how does your home stand up.”
Older homes on Hawaiʻi may not have the necessary fortifications to protect them from modern weather conditions, Freitas told HPR.
“We've seen a change in the storms, right? They seem, they're different now. Everything is different,” she said.
“But our homes are not here in Hawaiʻi. … They're not as resilient to handle some of the storms as they could be with all of the technology that's come along to reinforce their roofs and other aspects of the home.”
Knowing which areas are more disaster-prone ahead of time is critical to preparing as well.
“Understanding where you are geographically and understanding which way the storm is coming, how those winds are blowing, you can do some great ideas with that you know, protecting your windows and all of that, and preparing in advance,” she said, referring to the ranging severity of Hurricane Lala’s impact across the Hawaiian islands.
Click here to find more information on how to access storm recovery resources and help those impacted by Lala.
This story aired on The Conversation on Aug. 21, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
