Hawaii crews work to restore power to thousands after Lala outages

Crews in Hawaii are working to restore power to thousands of residents after the outer bands of Hurricane Lala battered the islands over the weekend, causing destructive flooding and killing one person.On the hard-hit Big Island, crews were working to clear and restore roads, but some communities on the southern end of the island remained isolated as they were cut off from communication.Hawaiian Electric said inspections were showing significant damage across the island group, especially in remote areas. Crews were working overnight to restore power to thousands across the Big Island, Maui and Oahu.Most public schools reopened but Hawaii county’s non-emergency operations were still suspended, officials said.Officials said the storm caused one death – a 90-year-old woman who had been reported missing in Naalehu and then found dead on Monday.Lala blew past the Hawaiian islands on Saturday. The hurricane had weakened to a tropical storm, but still brought significant damage to homes, roads and bridges.Hawaii’s governor, Josh Green, said on Monday that the damage was not as catastrophic as feared and that recovery would be “somewhat brisk”.The storm has since moved west, according to the National Weather Service. It is expected to eventually turn north toward the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, a vast and remote federally protected area of the Pacific with islands, atolls, sea mounts, shoals and coral reefs.