Hurricane Lala passed just south of Hawaiʻi Island over the weekend, bringing heavy rain, strong winds, flooding, and significant damage to communities across the island.
Keck Observatory Staff & ‘Ohana Safe
We are grateful to report that our staff and their ʻohana are safe, and no staff homes sustained catastrophic damage. Some members of our team remain without power and other essential utilities, and we are supporting them with schedule flexibility and assisting with access to resources as needed.
Many communities, particularly in the southern part of the island, were severely impacted. Homes were lost, roads were washed out, and critical infrastructure was damaged. Our hearts go out to the families and communities facing what may be a long road to recovery. Recovery will take time, and our island community will need continued support in the days and months ahead. We have some ways you can help below.
Emergency Access to Maunakea Restored
Thanks to the tremendous efforts of the Center for Maunakea Stewardship, crews cleared a path through downed trees and two major mudslides that had completely blocked summit access and made emergency repairs to sections of heavily damaged roadway. We are deeply grateful to the teams who worked quickly and safely to restore emergency access to Maunakea, which allowed our team to access our Observatory to assess any damage. The road remains closed to traffic.
Assessing the Observatory
On Tuesday morning, a crew reached the summit facility to assess the site and begin critical recovery work. Teams at the summit and at our headquarters in Waimea have been working carefully to restore systems and equipment while ensuring the safety of our people and facilities.
Our full assessment is still underway, but our initial findings are encouraging:
- The exterior of the Observatory is in good condition. We have found no significant damage to the outside of the facility. As with other observatories on the summit, there is some ground erosion in the vicinity of the facility.
- Power and network services are being restored. Power was restored to the summit facility Monday, and basic network access was restored Tuesday. Teams are now bringing essential equipment back online and working to restore full network connectivity.
- The telescopes and facility infrastructure appear to be in good condition. Our initial inspections have found no significant issues with the telescopes or signs of significant water intrusion. A more thorough assessment is continuing.
- Most instruments have remained within normal operating conditions. Instruments equipped with closed-cycle refrigeration maintained their normal detector temperatures. Instruments that rely on liquid nitrogen cooling, however, warmed after the storm. HIRES, one of our longest-serving instruments, warmed for the first time in more than two decades. No instruments sustained catastrophic damage. We are carefully assessing each of these instruments and will begin the recovery process when conditions are confirmed to be safe.
- We are cautiously optimistic about returning to science operations soon. If the full facility assessment continues without significant new issues, we hope to resume observing within the next few days using instruments that remained within their normal operating temperatures.
There is still more work to do. Our teams remain focused on a careful, methodical recovery so that we can return to safely and responsibly supporting world-leading astronomical research.
Mahalo for Your Support
We are deeply humbled by everyone who has reached out to us before and after the storm. Hawaiʻi is a strong and caring community, and we are especially grateful for the aloha and support extended to our staff and to the Observatory. Our thoughts remain with everyone across Hawaiʻi Island who has been affected by Hurricane Lala.
If you would like to support recovery efforts, our partners at Vibrant Hawaiʻi are on the ground in impacted communities, helping connect people with resources and support. Additionally, our friends with the Hawai‘i Community Foundation are accepting monetary donations in support of the Hawai‘i Island Strong Fund.
Mahalo for your aloha and support as we work together toward recovery.