Groceries, gas, sandbags: Hawaii Island stocks up for Lala

HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaii Island residents are preparing for Lala, and lines for basic essentials and gas were busy all of Thursday.

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Tropical Storm Lala is forecast to become a hurricane as it approaches Hawaii Island Saturday morning.

Hawaii County Civil Defense Agency said Thursday was the day to prepare, and Friday is the time to hunker down.

An agency spokesperson advised residents to plan ahead for an evacuation and leave before trees start coming down.

Hawaii County officials held meetings with the fire department and the National Guard about placing resources where needs could be the greatest because of the storm’s track.

Those areas are Puna, Kau and South Point, the same areas that were hit by the Kona Low storm.

Hawaii County Mayor Kimo Alameda said, “You got to take all the necessary precautions, right? So it’s batteries. It’s get your emergency kit, inform your neighbors, the kupuna. Make sure that everybody’s safe because our island’s big and we have small communities and we’re very connected.”

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At the Hilo Safeway, where there are several pumps, lines were long, but not out of control.

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Earlier, at the Puainako KTA, lines at the registers were also busy with shoppers buying basic essentials like water, rice, toilet paper, flashlights and batteries.

KTA’s safety and security team said they will keep the store open as long as possible. Typical hours are 5:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

“Today is a little bit busy. We came in earlier to make sure everything was okay, and 8 o’clock we started to notice it was picking up,” said KTA team leader Janel Bolner. “People get absolutely crazy in the afternoon at 4:30 p.m. when everyone comes off of work, but we’ll be ready.”

They’ll make the call Friday if the store needs to shut down early.

Store leaders said there’s been no panic buying, and they have plenty of supply in the warehouse, but essential items are not returnable.

“We are kind of used to it. But yet every time we always kind of take precaution that we need. I usually try to get my bottled water and toilet paper and stuff, but everybody is nice about it, and it’s not crazy,” said Hilo resident Tania Takashiba.

The county is helping residents get prepared by offering sand at 17 locations around the island.

At the South Hilo district base yard, county workers are prepping the sand.

Residents can come here with or without their own sand bags, and for public schools.

Officials say calls for sand can be overwhelming during flooding, so this is a way to be prepared.

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The locations for sand are on the county’s website.