Has anyone heard from Lavarock? I’m hoping he’s not significantly affected…
Lavarock? Oh the guy that lives in Hawaii and won’t let anyone forget it? 
I made it through the storm with little to no damage, little rain and little wind. My Sisters were not so lucky, but still not horrible.
Many people in my family from siblings to Grandparents were in real estate. They never mentioned these things but I think they make common sense.
Don’t buy on top of a hill (Lightning), at the bottom of a hill (flooding), on the edge of a precipice (only 1 state actually adds land to itself and even there, houses can fall off cliffs because, well you get the idea). I chose the west side of the big island because we have never had a hurricane hit this side of this island in recorded history. The Hilo (eastern) side has had hurricanes hit and nearly hit it but usually the volcano heights (14,000 feet up) block it. In my case, with counter-clockwise winds and the direction of the storm (east to west) I only got a couple of inches of rain and small wind gusts. My Sisters who live at South Point/Oceanview had wind and horizontal rain. Their house had a lot of water coming in even through places like through the window pane in a mnufactored door with window insert. They mopped up water continuously.
I never lost power however there are still places on the island with no power, no internet (cable or fiber) and no cell service. A local community radio station in Oceanview set up and offered free wifi in the shopping center parking lot. The stores were all closed with no power but I assume they used a generator and satellite for the service. Their area is served by a road that circles the island. They can get to the Kona side now but the road from South Point to Hilo is still own. Along the east side there are a number of bridges washed out and will have to be rebuilt. The Punaluu Bake shop is destroyed the south hospital is still on emergency power I think. To bypass that area is a multi-hour drive.
On top of that,we had already been through a 6.0 earthquake and the Kona Low storm that brought massive flooding. Many places closed for rebuilding and some will not reopen.
In many cases, damage and problems are localized. The island is the size of Connecticut so a bit larger than you may imagine and driving around the outside of it can take most of a day with little or no stops.
As of today, the Airports are open, almost all stores and shops are open, however some locations have spotty or no cell service and perhaps scattered power outages.
My island is still Paradise, just a litttle bit rough round the edges.
Thanks for your concern.
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The latest hurricane pass me to the south (I’m at 9 o’clock on the big island). HOWEVER, this storm is following Hurricane Ikiki’s path which devastated Kauai. This storm looks like it is turning 90 degrees later than Iniki did, but Kauai and NIIhau will still be drenched.
Stay safe!
It sounds like the storm affected different parts of the island very differently. Glad to hear you made it through with little damage, although it’s tough to hear how badly some areas were hit. The local community helping with Wi-Fi and other services is pretty impressive. Hopefully the remaining power, road, and communication issues get sorted out soon. Stay safe!