Rain is returning to the islands as the latest weather disturbance makes its way through the Pacific.
Tropical Storm Norbert has dissipated, but its remnants have brought moisture to Hawaiʻi with the potential to cause flooding in areas across the state.
To get the latest forecast, HPR spoke with Gov. Josh Green after his visit to Kauaʻi, where he surveyed storm damage along the island’s north shore alongside Kauaʻi Mayor Derek Kawakami and Hawaiʻi Senate President Ron Kouchi.
Interview Highlights
On preventing future storm damage
GOV. JOSH GREEN: We have to remember we are living at the edge of the earth here in some of these cases. Hawaiʻi is already the most isolated landmass on the planet, and the communities that have been most profoundly affected during these hurricanes, it shouldn't surprise anyone, are the most isolated communities that we have in the islands. …
I think everyone's getting more accustomed to what storm preparedness is going to look like in the future. … But we have to also start thinking forward, and I will be proposing some major investments going forward to include hardening of the harbors, to include new warehouses and resiliency hubs. Those kind of things, which we have needed for a long time, I think have to happen in the next 5 years. So, I'll be proposing all these things. We have some philanthropic support, we're going to have definitely support from the feds, but some of these resources will come from things like the Green Fee that we thought ahead 3 years ago now when we started proposing that. Now that we have that, we can do some extra projects that we never had resources for before.
On receiving emergency aid from the federal government
GREEN: People are wonderful here in our state. They care for each other. That really is our spirit of aloha. But we're going to continue to need help because we're going to continue to have crises. … So there's a lot of work, but because people really look out for each other, we're able to do it. And I have to say, I have a relationship with the federal government where they're just saying yes. They have not yet rebuffed me on any of these disasters, which is a little bit incredible, and I'm grateful for that. I, you know, I'm trying to stay out of the political fray on the national level because I know that they value Hawaiʻi, and I value the ability to help our people. And so it's nice when I can text the head of FEMA, or talk to the Director of Homeland Security and just say, Look, we really are going to need a major disaster declaration. We have 690 homes on Big Island that were damaged, or we've got 250 homes with major damage on Kauaʻi. And they say, Okay, get us the paperwork, we'll talk to the president. I appreciate that. I know that we have some differences in ideology, but when it comes to storms and recovery, it really has got to be all hands on deck and everyone together.
On incoming storms
GREEN: These serious storms have wounded us, but we're healing already. The next tropical depression, Norbert, could have some heavy rains associated with it, but it's not nearly as bad. It could cause some flash flooding, so let's be careful, because the land is very saturated, our ʻāina is very saturated, so we get a lot of runoff quite quickly. And there could be more storms this fall. We had a projection initially of 5 to 13 major tropical depressions or hurricanes. We'll see, but we'll be ready. You know, every time we have one of these events, we're even a little bit more ready the next time, and we're able to recover even faster. But it's because of people's willingness to work together that we get all these things done between the state and the county.
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 17, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.
