As Hawaii residents continue to cope with the aftermath of two rare hurricanes in recent weeks, the state’s governor has asked President Donald Trump for help.

Thousands of people in the state remained without power on Thursday. Long lines at gas stations, damaged roads and downed power lines were reported on Kauai, the island of about 73,000 people that was hit hardest by Hurricane Lowell when it passed through on Monday and Tuesday.

The hurricane’s powerful winds and heavy rain damaged piers and ports, demolished beachfront buildings and knocked out power for a majority of Kauai. Two deaths also appear to have been linked to the storm, one on Oahu and one on Kauai, authorities said.

The storm was the second hurricane to strike Hawaii in the past few weeks. In mid-August, Hurricane Lala drenched the Big Island with more than 2 feet of rain, washing away about 100 homes and killing three people.

In a statement on Thursday, Gov. Josh Green said the storm appeared to have caused more damage than Hurricane Iniki in September 1992. That storm devastated Kauai, killing at least seven people and leaving $1.8 billion in damage.

Detailed assessments of the damage caused by Lowell are still being conducted by local authorities. Some owners of oceanfront homes, hotels and businesses have reported damage, but the toll on the island is still largely unclear.

Gina Duarte, who lives in Waimea, on the west side of Kauai, said the storm surge from the hurricane had lifted boulders onto roads and yards and washed away the Waimea pier. Homes on the water were damaged, she said, and at least one road was washed out.

Duarte, whose home was without power, said Wednesday that Kauai residents were trying to cope without air conditioning and the ocean breezes that usually cool the island.

“Everything is so wet, and it’s so hot,” she said.

Motorists dodged fallen trees and navigated intersections in Kauai without functioning traffic lights as emergency crews continued to clear roads and repair bridges. The highway on the Hanalei Bridge has been closed since Monday, cutting off communities on the north shore from the rest of the island.

Green said the state needed help right away, before a full damage assessment could be completed. He noted that, in addition to the back-to-back hurricanes, Hawaii had been battered by another storm and an earthquake.

“We cannot wait for every damaged road, utility pole, harbor and public facility to be assigned a dollar value before asking the federal government to act,” he said.

In addition to Kauai, Green wrote in a letter to Trump, the state needed assistance to repair the state-owned commercial port on the island of Lanai, which was badly damaged and serves 3,000 residents. (Lanai is almost entirely owned by Larry Ellison, a billionaire who co-founded Oracle and who is a friend of Trump’s.)

Nearly 90% of Kauai’s 36,000 electric customers were without power in the initial aftermath of the storm. The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, the power company for the island, said that “the assessment and restoration effort will be extensive.” By Thursday, only about 14,000 customers remained without electricity.

In Poipu, a tourist destination in Kauai, hotel pools were filled with sand, and some resorts and vacation rental homes were flooded.

Still, Kealiʻiheleua Makaloa of Koloa said Wednesday, “We didn’t get too beaten up. Not too bad for us locals. We can survive.”

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Christina Morales and Jennifer Sinco Kelleher/Erin Schaff
c. 2026 The New York Times Company