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Hurricane Lala leaves thousands without power in Hawaii amid ‘life-threatening’ conditions

Nypost · · 309 words · By Reuters
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What to know about Hurricane Lala leaves thousands without power in Hawaii amid ‘life-threatening’ conditions

Hurricane Lala leaves thousands without power in Hawaii amid ‘life-threatening’ conditions See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 9
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left12%
Center76%
Right12%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Hurricane Lala leaves thousands without power in Hawaii amid ‘life-threatening’ conditions See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on Google Hurricane Lala approached Hawaii with strong winds and heavy rain on Saturday, leaving more than 40,000 utility customers without power across the state as the National Hurricane Center warned of “life-threatening” conditions.

Common ground

The poweroutage.com website showed 42,889 customers without power as of 2:14 p.m.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/16/us-news/hurricane-lala-leaves-thousands-without-po…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7
info Single Source 2
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Claim 1: “The Maunakea Weather Center, on the Big Island’s tallest peak, recorded wind gusts of more than 100 mph throughout the early afternoon”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific wind gust measurement of over 100 mph at Maunakea Weather Center is only reported by The Hindu; other search results are general weather forecasts or unrelated storms.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Maunakea Rangers. This announcement is primarily used to inform the public about road closures. Road closures typically occur during winter months due to ice or snow on the road and occasionally for h…
http://mkwc.ifa.hawaii.edu/current/road-conditions/index.cgi
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jefferson County bore the brunt of Edouard’s initial onshore push. As the western eyewall brushed past the border communities, automated weather stations recorded wind gusts peak at 71 miles per hour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtgDAAflM28
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Kilometers per hour (km/h) Miles per hour (mph).Mauna Kea Weather (Days 3-6): Some drizzle, heaviest during Wed afternoon. Mild temperatures (max 6°C on Sun night, min 3°C on Tue night). Wind will be …
https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mauna-Kea/forecasts/…
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 2: “The Hawaii Department of Transportation said it was closing Hilo International Airport and would close Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keahole at 2 p.m. HST.”
CORROBORATED
The closure of Hilo International and Ellison Onizuka Kona International airports is confirmed by the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) and other news reports.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keāhole is the primary airport on the Island of Hawaiʻi, located in the Kailua-Kona area, Hawaii, United States. The airport serves leeward Hawaiʻi island…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kona_International_Airport
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Officials closed Hilo International Airport (ITO) Saturday morning and Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airport at Keāhole (KOA) Saturday afternoon.At the Hilo International Airport, sandbags were p…
https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/08/17/flying-after-lala-a…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Hilo International and Ellison Onizuka Kona International Airports to Close; Hawai‘i Island, Maui County, Kaua‘i Ports Closed. HONOLULU – The Hawai‘i Department of Transportation (HDOT) is in the proc…
https://hidot.hawaii.gov/blog/2026/08/
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Claim 3: “leaving more than 40,000 utility customers without power across the state”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (The Hindu, CNBC, and other web search results) confirm that over 40,000 utility customers lost power.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Pacific hurricane season is the current Pacific hurricane season for the Northern Hemisphere. The season officially began on May 15, 2026, and will end on November 30, 2026. For the Central P…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Pacific_hurricane_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hurricane Lala was the first hurricane to directly hit the Big Island since an unnamed hurricane in 1871 and the third-wettest tropical cyclone to affect the U.S. state of Hawaii on record. The ninth …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Lala
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A Hawaiian hurricane is a tropical cyclone that forms in the Pacific Ocean and affects the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaii lies in the central Pacific, where about four or five tropical cyclones appear each …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hawaii_hurricanes
+ 4 more evidence sources
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Claim 4: “Hurricane Lala approached Hawaii with strong winds and heavy rain on Saturday”
CORROBORATED
The claim is confirmed by The Hindu and Wikipedia, which explicitly states Hurricane Lala hit the Big Island and was the first to do so directly since 1871.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — September 11 is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 111 days remain until the end of the year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hurricane Lala was the first hurricane to directly hit the Big Island since an unnamed hurricane in 1871 and the third-wettest tropical cyclone to affect the U.S. state of Hawaii on record. The ninth …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Lala
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — May is the fifth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. May is a month of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, and autumn in the Southern Hemisphere. Therefore, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May
+ 1 more evidence source
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Claim 5: “The department also closed the Hawaii Island, Maui County, and Kaua‘i commercial ports.”
CORROBORATED
The closure of commercial ports on Hawaii Island, Maui County, and Kaua'i is reported by both The Hindu and the Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT).
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cross reference SUPPORTS — The department also closed the Hawaii Island, Maui County, and Kaua‘i commercial ports.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/hurricane-lala-l…
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Claim 6: “The poweroutage.com website showed 42,889 customers without power as of 2:14 p.m. in Hawaii, including 31,792 on the Big Island and 7,203 in Maui County”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources (India Today and another news report) provide the exact figures from poweroutage.com: 42,889 total, 31,792 on Big Island, and 7,203 in Maui County.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Maui Nui is a modern geologists' name given to a prehistoric Hawaiian island and the corresponding modern biogeographic region. Maui Nui is composed of four modern islands: Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi, and…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maui_Nui
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In Hawaiian religion, Māui is a culture hero and ancient chief who appears in several different genealogies. In the Kumulipo, he is the son of ʻAkalana and his wife Hina-a-ke-ahi (Hina). This couple h…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Māui_(Hawaiian_mythology)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Maui is the second-largest island in the Hawaiian archipelago, at 727.2 square miles (1,883 km2). It is the 17th-largest in the United States. Maui is one of Maui County's four sizable islands, along …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maui
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “the US National Hurricane Center said Lala’s maximum sustained winds reached 75 mph, making it a Category 1 hurricane.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm the National Hurricane Center classified Lala as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The National Hurricane Center said Lala was slowing and turning northwest as it interacted with the Big Island’s mountainous terrain. The center’s exact path remained uncertain, but hurricane-force wi…
https://www.mensjournal.com/news/hurricane-warning-issued-as…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The National Hurricane Center reported that Lala's maximum sustained winds ramped up to 75 mph, with the eyewall expected to pass over or near the island's southern tip by this evening.
https://www.themirror.com/weather/hurricane-lala-sparks-rare…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The National Hurricane Center said Lala's maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph (120 kph), making it a Category 1 hurricane, and the eyewall was forecast to move over or near the island's southe…
https://abc11.com/story/tropical-storm-lala-strengthens-hurr…
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Claim 8: “An advisory from the hurricane center at 2 p.m. HST predicted 10 to 20 inches of rain on the Big Island, and possibly up to 25 inches there, as well as 8 to 12 inches in eastern Maui and 4 to 6 inches in western Maui.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific rainfall predictions (10-25 inches for Big Island, etc.) are only found in The Hindu. Other web results for 'National' were irrelevant (car rentals).
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 Pacific hurricane season was the first to see twenty named storms since 2018. It was an active Pacific hurricane season with an above average number of tropical cyclones, largely due to warme…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Pacific_hurricane_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Pacific hurricane season is the current Pacific hurricane season for the Northern Hemisphere. The season officially began on May 15, 2026, and will end on November 30, 2026. For the Central P…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Pacific_hurricane_season
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hurricane Lala was the first hurricane to directly hit the Big Island since an unnamed hurricane in 1871 and the third-wettest tropical cyclone to affect the U.S. state of Hawaii on record. The ninth …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Lala
+ 4 more evidence sources
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Claim 9: “utility crews were assessing a 42-mile span of transmission lines after fallen trees knocked down multiple poles and structures”
CORROBORATED
The detail about the 42-mile span of transmission lines on the Hamakua Coast is reported by The Hindu, The New York Times, and other web sources citing Hawaiian Electric.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Not all of the aircraft were in operation at the time. Combat loss…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incident…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Hurricane Lala was the first hurricane to directly hit the Big Island since an unnamed hurricane in 1871 and the third-wettest tropical cyclone to affect the U.S. state of Hawaii on record. The ninth …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Lala
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of some of the ways regions are defined in the United States. Many regions are defined in law or regulations by the federal government; others by shared culture and history, and others …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regions_of_the_United_…
+ 4 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.