Videos of Big Island’s Rainbow Falls show dramatic impact of Hurricane Lala

As Hurricane Lala blew along the southern end of Hawaii Island on Saturday, videos of a rushing torrent of water at Wailuku River State Park went viral on social media. 

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The park is a popular destination for both locals and visitors to the island for viewing an elegant 80-foot waterfall known as Rainbow Falls, among other water features. But as Lala made its way across the Big Island, the graceful cascade became broad, muddy, and pounding with white water, the videos showed.

The rushing waters at Hilo’s Rainbow Falls show the dramatic impact of Hurricane Lala. A Flash Flood Warning is in effect for Hawaii Island, where the storm is forecast to dump 10 to 20 inches of rain, with localized totals reaching up to 25 inches. pic.twitter.com/cPZL39BPWt

— Hawaii News Now (@HawaiiNewsNow) August 16, 2026

Much of the island was under a flash flood warning Saturday as rain fell, with some locations reporting as much as 20 inches in a 24-hour period. The rain was especially intense along the southeastern part of the island as the hurricane passed by about 50 miles from shore, with its northern eyewall “brushing South Point,” according to the National Weather Service. 

Flash Flood Warning continues for Hilo HI, Waimea HI and Volcano HI until 7:00 PM HST pic.twitter.com/j5XNqpKhNP

— NWSHonolulu (@NWSHonolulu) August 16, 2026

All state parks on Hawaii Island were closed Saturday, the day the videos were posted. Wailuku River State Park is known as one of the most deadly parks in Hawaii, with water-related deaths happening nearly every year, as SFGATE previously reported. People have been found dead at the base of the falls, as well as at Boiling Pots, a volcanic water feature also in the park. Many of these drownings have occurred on calm days.

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Hurricane Lala weakened to a tropical storm Sunday after skirting Hawaii without making landfall, but it wasn’t done punishing the Big Island with hurricane-force gusts. Total rainfall of nearly 3 feet was expected on the higher windward slopes, turning rivers into raging torrents and threatening mudslides.

Tropical storm conditions were spreading westward Sunday from Maui to Oahu and then Kauai, and the National Hurricane Center warned that wind speeds atop mountains and on the windward and leeward slopes are often up to 30% stronger than the near-surface winds used to categorize storms. Powerful waves pounded the Big Island’s coast as Lala slowly passed by. Howling winds whipped palm trees and waterways swelled with fast-moving runoff from relentless rain that blew nearly sideways.

More than 130,000 households were without power Sunday morning across Hawaii’s three largest islands, according to the utility tracker poweroutage.us. At least three hospitals were operating on generator power, Gov. Josh Green said.

At least one person died in a car accident in the South Point area of the Big Island, while 19 roofs were lost in the “enormous storm,” the governor said Saturday evening. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.