Albizia trees pose major threat in hurricane season

News admin May 22, 2026 0 Comments

Albizia trees pose major threat in hurricane season

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – With hurricane season approaching, property owners are removing albizia trees that grow tall quickly and are prone to failure in high winds.

Hurricane season in the central Pacific begins on June 1 and ends Nov. 30, with the peak of the season between July and September.

Workers recently removed three 150-foot albizia from above a row of homes in the Lapaolu condo development in Aiea Heights.

“Such aggressive growth beyond anything that we have. So it’s the number one enemy, enemy number one. We gotta take them out,” said Kai Farrell, owner of Kai’s Affordable Tree Maintenance.

Stephan Kant, a Lapaolu resident, watched as the trees fell near his home.

“They are really beautiful, but it’s kind of sad to see them go, but I get if they are risk of property. I can see it, they gotta go,” Kant said.

Scores of albizia tower above the condo subdivision, which sits near the top of the ridge where windward winds are a threat.

“We’re pretty close to the top of the mountain, so the winds coming from the windward side are really blowing. You know, it takes off shingles off roofs,” Kant said.

Farrell said the company cut three trees and gave the homeowners a special rate. Other experts say removal can cost $10,000 to $20,000 per tree.

Farrell said they cut up the fallen trees to decay on the forest floor and made sure debris was away from the stream channel.

“If you’ve got an albizia tree over a structure, that’s a high priority. You definitely want to get on top of that, and you want to hire professionals who know what they’re doing,” said Tylor Schwartz, an arborist at Lyon Arboretum.

Schwartz said albizia is the state’s most destructive tree. Felling it to decay in the forest is common. It is also common to drill or cut the trunk and inject herbicide, but because the tree will rot where it stands, poisoning is limited to areas where there are no pedestrian paths, property, cars or vehicles close to the tree.

Albizia was brought to Hawaii about a hundred years ago to restore forests destroyed by grazing. Thousands of seeds were dropped from airplanes.

The seeding has spawned an industry to keep up with trees that grow 15 feet a year.

“They just sneak up on everybody, and all of a sudden, this massive tree is just hanging over someone’s house, and they had no clue. And it came out of nowhere, and 10 years ago, they wasn’t there,” Farrell said. “Ten years later, oh, my God, this giant tree’s right there. It’s just nuts.”

The albizia invasion has gone beyond human control, leaving property owners to target the ones that pose the most danger.