Hurricane Lala and multiple Kona-low storms stretched firefighters across the islands this year, forcing crews to balance routine emergency calls with flood rescues, washed-out roads, downed trees and stranded communities.

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In response, fire departments are expanding training, upgrading equipment and strengthening partnerships as officials race to prepare for the next major storm, which could come soon as Hurricane Lowell veers toward the western end of the island chain.

The urgency stems in part from the devastating flooding in March on Oahu’s North Shore, where some residents accused first responders of failing to act quickly enough to assist families trapped in fast-­moving water. The incident renewed scrutiny of Hawaii’s flood-response capabilities, and the Honolulu Fire Department is now conducting an after-action review.

The scrutiny surrounding this year’s storms has sparked a broader examination of whether Hawaii’s emergency response system is equipped for increasingly complex weather events.

As floods and severe storms become more frequent, fire departments are increasingly being called on for swift-water rescues, disaster response and evacuations. The stakes became tragically clear in 2023 when Maui firefighter Tre’ Evans-­Dumaran died after he was swept into a storm drain while responding to flooding in Kihei.

“I think it’s a matter of we need to just do as much as we can in the time that we have, because we still have a couple months left for hurricane season,” said Honolulu City Council Member Matt Weyer, who represents Oahu’s North Shore, which was devastated by the back-to-back storms in March.

Weyer said the results of HFD’s after-action review could help identify additional training, equipment and staffing needs for the next storm season.

“We need to be intentional in building capacity in areas where we’re lacking — both so the community is safe but also so we’re fulfilling our responsibilities to our first responders,” he said.

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Following the March 20 Kona-low flooding on the North Shore, the response by first responders became a flash point in the community.

When Mayor Rick Blangiardi praised their response at a community town hall, he was heckled by some residents, several of whom shouted that emergency responders “did nothing” and some demanded apologies from senior leaders.

Haleiwa resident Patrick Holman and several of his neighbors told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that they shouted to firefighters while he and his children struggled against fast-moving floodwaters for nearly 20 minutes. But he also said that after he and his family got to safety, a group of firefighters in an inflatable raft eventually made their way into their flooded neighborhood to help extract several other residents.

“I think they didn’t have the right equipment,” Holman said.

Scott Humber, Blangiardi’s communications director, said the mayor “has tremendous confidence in the men and women of the Honolulu Fire Department and believes they are exceptionally well-trained and equipped.”

But Humber added that “every major emergency gives us an opportunity to identify what worked, what can be improved and whether additional training, equipment or resources are needed.”

HFD said it is reviewing the response as part of an after-action report examining the Kona-low event.

Capt. Jacob Pekelo, an HFD spokesman, said that after the March storms, the department “immediately expanded and enhanced its swift-water rescue program with additional training and equipment, enhanced our partnerships with agencies for high-water vehicles, and refined command and control structures and streamlined communication pathways to coordinate a unified response.”

Officials had told the public prior to the March 20 storm that it was expected to be much more mild than the Kona-low that preceded it. Relatively few first responders were pre-positioned, and heavily saturated soil and mud ended up creating the conditions that caught both communities and authorities off guard.

“(The Honolulu) Emergency Operations Center wasn’t stood up until later in the evening,” Weyer said. “And prior to that, I think what we had were first responders on the ground responding to what they were seeing, and a lot of that response was not based on higher-level briefing or understanding of what was occurring.”

Some North Shore residents coordinated their own rescue efforts, using everything from construction equipment to surfboards as they braved falling rain and rising waters.

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Weyer said that while some felt abandoned by authorities during the storm, others witnessed firefighters and police officers rescuing neighbors as conditions deteriorated. According to the city, firefighters rescued at least 130 people during the flooding.

“This was an extraordinary, once-in-a-thousand-year weather event that dumped an estimated 60 trillion gallons of water across the state,” Humber said. “Our firefighters and first responders were operating in extremely dangerous and rapidly changing conditions, responding to emergencies across Oahu while dealing with flooding and conditions that were well beyond what our communities normally experience.”

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Officials say lessons from the March flooding helped shape preparations months later for Hurricane Lala and Tropical Storm Moke in August. Emergency operations centers were activated well before the storms’ arrival, and departments across the state increased staffing and coordinated with partner agencies.

Honolulu Fire Chief Sheldon Kalani Hao said crews responded to 629 emergency calls during the hurricane, including reports of downed trees and power lines, damaged roofs and flooding. HFD also deployed to five rescue calls that included stranded hikers, distressed swimmers and a kayaker who disregarded storm warnings.

On Hawaii Island, which bore the brunt of Lala, Hawaii County spokesperson Tom Callis said there are certain areas that routinely flood during heavy storms, “causing significant damage to roads and isolating communities.”

He said Hawaii County firefighters worked with the Hawaii National Guard to pre-position resources, stand up additional trucks and ambulances and place the Guard’s high-water vehicles in strategic locations to help ferry people to safety as communities become isolated.

County officials are in the process of assessing Lala’s impact and documenting the response. Callis said that due to power and communications outages, authorities are still compiling data on rescues and other emergency actions.

In a preliminary analysis, firefighters from Station 11 in Pahala rescued about 15 adults and two children trapped in homes by floodwaters. Across the island, crews also responded to reports of downed trees and power lines, arcing electrical lines and people stranded in vehicles and homes, Callis said.

Maui Fire Department spokesperson Christopher Stankis said additional firefighters and ocean safety officers were placed on duty across the county in anticipation of Lala and that crews continued responding to routine emergencies while handling weather-­related calls.

Stankis said most storm-related incidents involved downed trees and power lines, but firefighters also responded to a report of a vehicle damaged by a fallen tree limb amid strong winds on Hana Highway and a tree falling on a home in the Piiholo Road corridor.

As Lala passed, MFD also assisted the Coast Guard in setting up a floating fuel-containment boom around a boat that sank during the storm in Maalaea Harbor, and leaned on the Hawaii National Guard, which provided high-water vehicles that could access flooded areas.

On Kauai, this year’s storms prompted preparations shaped by decades of hard-earned experience.

Although the island avoided the catastrophic flooding seen elsewhere in the state, officials say lessons from flooding in 2018 and Hurricane Iniki in 1992 continue to influence emergency planning, including resource staging, interagency coordination and public messaging ahead of major weather events.

“Our crews prepare the same way every time, whether the storm turns toward us or not,” said Kauai Fire Chief Michael Gibson. “When warnings come in, we upstaff and get our equipment ready so we can move the moment someone needs us. Adding the high-water vehicle this year gives our firefighters another tool to reach people in flood conditions.”

Even as fire departments across the state point to new training, upgraded equipment and stronger partnerships forged during this year’s storms, questions remain about whether those improvements will be enough as weather events grow more frequent and severe.

Weyer said firefighters and other first responders “were utilizing the resources and the training that they have,” and he hopes the after-action review identifies additional training and equipment needs ahead of future storms.

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