At least one American is dead and entire homes have been swept off their foundations after Tropical Storm Lala hammered Hawaii's Big Island — and the only question that matters is whether Washington will treat American suffering with the same urgency it ships money to every corner of the globe.
Gov. Josh Green confirmed the death — a storm-related car crash — and said 19 roofs were ripped off buildings after what he called an "enormous storm." More than 130,000 households lost power across Hawaii's three largest islands, with at least three hospitals running on generators. Flash floods swept several occupied homes off their foundations in the coastal communities of Na'alehu and Wai'ohinu, near the island's southern tip, according to Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda, who launched a search-and-rescue mission with Civil Defense, the National Guard, and the Coast Guard.
"What makes this very challenging is that there's rushing water, there's debris, and there's boulders on the road and it's dark," Alameda said.
The New York Post reported that forecasters expect up to 35 inches of rain on the Big Island's higher elevations — enough to loosen steep slopes where roughly 210,000 islanders live off the grid in improvised housing. USA Today noted Lala could be the first hurricane on record to make landfall on the Big Island and the first hurricane to hit Hawaii in over three decades. Lala has since been downgraded to a tropical storm but is expected to regain hurricane strength midweek.
Here is what you will not hear from the permanent Washington class: a single honest conversation about priorities. Congress will appropriate billions for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan with bipartisan speed that would make your head spin. A disaster on American soil? Expect FEMA paperwork, delayed trailers, and press conferences about "process." The bipartisan failure isn't accidental — it's the whole design. Both parties agree on sending your money overseas. Both parties struggle to send it to your flooded neighbor.
Local residents are doing what Americans always do — handling it themselves. Vanessa Cantrell, a Volcano resident, told USA Today: "I'm not scared, but I think that's because the local people get prepared. We do what we're supposed to do to make sure that we're ready. Because we know from experience that when we don't people die." She described neighbors checking on each other via text threads while power crews worked through the storm.
That's the real country — community, self-reliance, mutual aid. Not the lobbying class in Washington that treats every overseas commitment as mandatory and every domestic crisis as optional.
Lala isn't done. Forecasters say it could re-strengthen. The full damage toll won't be clear for days. Watch what Washington does — not what it says — and you'll see the whole rigged game laid bare.
