Hawaii residents experience storm fatigue after relentless hurricane season

HILO, Hawaii — Residents across the Hawaiian Islands are grappling with widespread storm fatigue and anxiety following a relentless hurricane season that has generated at least 19 named storms in the eastern and central Pacific. While three separate hurricanes — Lala, Lowell, and Nolo — have approached the island chain in recent weeks, none have made direct landfalls, yet their outer bands have delivered severe, destructive impacts.

“So there’s storm fatigue and there’s some PTSD,” Hilo Mayor Kimo Alameda told NBC News on Sunday. “I mean, you know, there’s a lot of anxiety around the weather now. You know, a lot of our folks out in the south side, they experienced, you know, catastrophic flooding.”

Island Impacts and Emergency Response

The cumulative toll of the season has triggered swift administrative action. Governor Josh Green issued three separate disaster proclamations in September alone to address storm damage. For the arrival of Hurricane Nolo, roughly 400 National Guard members were mobilized statewide, with more than 120 deployed directly to Hawaii Island. President Donald Trump subsequently approved an emergency declaration, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate federal assistance and funding support.

Although officials reported minor rescues but no deaths or major infrastructure failures tied directly to Nolo, the island is still reeling from the devastating path carved by Hurricane Lala last month. That storm claimed two lives and damaged more than 200 homes without ever touching land.

In Nāʻālehu, situated at the island’s southern tip, lingering destruction remains visible. Surveying silt-covered roads from a four-wheeler on Sunday, resident Peggy McKibbin pointed out businesses and public facilities wiped out by Lala, including a local bakery, a fire station, and a hardware store. “Everyone has been very much affected by this,” McKibbin said.

Reflecting on Nolo’s passage, Mayor Alameda noted that the island avoided a catastrophic outcome. “We did take some hits in some parts of the island,” he said. “For the most part, we dodged a huge bullet. It could have been much worse.”

Pacific Activity and Forecasts

By Sunday afternoon, Hurricane Nolo had intensified into a Category 4 major hurricane and was forecast to strengthen further while tracking south and southwest of the Hawaiian chain. The National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument as the storm approached the area.

National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec noted that Pacific storm activity is running well above average during the peak of hurricane season, a pattern consistent with active El Niño cycles that typically produce an increased number of tropical storms and hurricanes.

Despite the persistent weather threats—which have included recent tsunami alerts, earthquake activity, and ongoing precautions regarding the Kīlauea volcano—Alameda emphasized that the community is prepared. “Unfortunately, we’ve been having a lot of practice,” he said.

Storm Activity Across the Pacific

Meanwhile, emergency preparations accelerated along Mexico’s Pacific coast as the region braced for major Hurricane Polo. On Monday, the storm threatened the Baja Peninsula after lashing the southwest coast with heavy rain and strong winds. Ranked as a dangerous Category 3 storm with top sustained winds of 125 mph, Polo was tracked moving north-northwest at 12 mph, positioned about 285 miles west-southwest of Cabo San Lucas.

In response, the Mexican navy assembled personnel and humanitarian aid supplies in the ports of Guaymas and Mazatlán, deploying three vessels capable of delivering relief to coastal areas that risk isolation. Simultaneously, Tropical Storm Rachel formed further down the coast, registering maximum sustained winds of 40 mph while centered about 275 miles south of Acapulco, prompting a local tropical storm watch.