Kalihi Valley grandmother left ‘looking at the mountains’ after Lala winds rip roof off home

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – A strong gust of wind tore the roof off a Kalihi Valley home Saturday night while the 75-year-old homeowner was inside watching television, according to family members.

Read more Power outages impact nearly 260K in Hawaii as Tropical Storm Lala hampers utility crews

Alice Ome was sitting in her recliner chair when the wind came through and peeled the roof from her home and folded it over.

Torrential rain from Lala — which weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm as passed south of Oahu — followed Saturday night and Sunday.

‘Wind just flipped right over to the other side’

Ome called her daughter for help.

“She said, ‘Oh, my roof came off and now I’m looking at the mountains,’” said Alice’s daughter Aleka Ome-Ongayo. “It could have been so much more worse, so much more than if it happened at night. I don’t know what we would have done.”

Francis Souza, Ome’s son-in-law, described what happened to the structure.

“What happened is actually the whole roof on this half of the house, wind just flipped right over to the other side,” Souza said. “The wind came up the gully, and wind just pushed that roof right over.”

Family working to save belongings

Family members are working to salvage what they can from the home, including Alice’s precious photographs.

Read more Hurricane Lala lashes Hawaii Island with damaging winds, flooding rain

“We got a lot of stuff out,” Souza said they took those items to their home in Waikele, but not much could be saved. “(Alice) lost a lot of pictures, a lot of clothes and all the quilts and stuff like that.”

Maleko Ome-Ongayo, Alice’s grandson held back tears as he looked around the home.

“Lots of memories are here. It’s just gone now, you know,” but he said he is grateful that his grandmother was not hurt.

All the family said they were surprised that she didn’t have a scratch on her as pieces of the roof went flying and debris scattered.

“We have her, and that’s all that matters,” said her daughter.

Once the storm passes and everything dries out, the family said they will assess what else can be saved or repaired and then work through the insurance process.

Read more School closures: 2 on Hawaii Island closed following Lala storm damage