{"id":132436,"date":"2026-08-17T15:17:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T15:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/?p=132436"},"modified":"2026-08-17T15:18:28","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T15:18:28","slug":"indiana-floods-claim-7-lives-and-lala-intensifies-into-a-hurricane-and-hits-hawaii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/indiana-floods-claim-7-lives-and-lala-intensifies-into-a-hurricane-and-hits-hawaii\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Floods Claim 7 Lives.. and \u201cLala\u201d Intensifies into a Hurricane and Hits Hawaii"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The death toll from the record-breaking storms and floods that struck the U.S. state of \u201cIndiana\u201d has risen to at least 7 people, after heavy rains caused river levels to rise to historic levels and forced hundreds of residents to leave their homes in the hardest-hit areas.<\/p>\n

At the same time, \u201cLala\u201d intensified in the Pacific Ocean and developed into a Category 1 hurricane, heading toward the Big Island of \u201cHawaii\u201d, amid warnings of heavy rain, strong winds, flash floods, and expected mudslides.<\/p>\n

Authorities in Indiana had initially announced that 5 people had died as a result of the severe weather, before the toll rose to around 6 and then to 7 deaths, according to the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The city of Indianapolis and surrounding areas experienced the worst flooding in more than 30 years, according to the city\u2019s mayor, \u201cJoe Hogsett\u201d, while rainfall in some areas exceeded 280 millimeters over just two days.<\/p>\n

Rising water levels in the \u201cWhite\u201d River reached record levels in several areas, flooding roads and homes and prompting authorities to carry out rescue operations using boats, while hundreds of residents were evacuated from flooded neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Hurricane \u201cLala\u201d Threatens Hawaii<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In \u201cHawaii\u201d, the Big Island faced on Saturday the risk of its first expected direct hurricane strike in 155 years, as \u201cLala\u201d reached the area carrying strong winds, high waves, and heavy rainfall.<\/p>\n

The National Hurricane Center announced that the hurricane\u2019s maximum sustained wind speed had increased to approximately 120 kilometers per hour, making \u201cLala\u201d a Category 1 hurricane.<\/p>\n

The center of the hurricane was expected to move near the southern tip of the island or pass over it by Saturday evening, potentially placing the elevated volcanic slopes in the path of the strongest winds and rainfall.<\/p>\n

Amid deteriorating weather conditions, authorities launched a search and rescue operation involving civil defense, the National Guard, and a Coast Guard helicopter, after flash floods apparently swept several occupied homes from their foundations in coastal communities near the southern tip of Hawaii\u2019s Big Island.<\/p>\n

Hawaii County Mayor \u201cKimo Alameda\u201d said early Sunday that rescue operations were facing severe difficulties due to raging waters, accumulated debris and large rocks on the roads, as well as the onset of darkness.<\/p>\n

Governor \u201cJosh Green\u201d announced on Saturday that at least one person had died in a vehicle collision in the \u201cSouth Point\u201d area of Hawaii\u2019s Big Island.<\/p>\n

Green warned residents against leaving their locations, amid rainfall rates of two inches, or approximately 5 centimeters, per hour, urging them to shelter in place.<\/p>\n

Heavy Rain and Concerns Over Mudslides<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Meteorologists warned that the island\u2019s elevated areas \u2014 dominated by Mauna Kea volcano \u2014 could receive enormous amounts of rainfall of up to 25 inches, or approximately 63.5 centimeters.<\/p>\n

Such amounts could increase the risk of widespread mudslides that may threaten residents in mountainous and remote areas, particularly residential communities suffering from limited infrastructure and public facilities.<\/p>\n

Governor \u201cGreen\u201d had previously described the hurricane as a \u00abmassive storm\u00bb, warning of its potential to cause devastating floods, as well as the possibility of wildfires due to strong winds whose effects could extend to different areas of the Hawaiian island chain.<\/p>\n

Amid the continued severe weather conditions, electricity was cut off for approximately 20% of subscribers on Hawaii\u2019s Big Island, according to data from the U.S. website \u201cPowerOutage.us\u201d, while authorities continued to monitor conditions on the ground and remain fully prepared to respond to any new developments.<\/p>\n

United News Network \u2013 UNN Arabic<\/strong><\/p>\n

An independent media platform that provides reliable news and objective analysis, and seeks to promote peace and cultural dialogue around the world, to convey the truth and build bridges of understanding among peoples.<\/p>\n

For more news, you can visit our homepage:<\/strong><\/p>\n

https:\/\/un-news.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Author\u2019s Name:<\/strong> Consultant Faisal Al-Mutairi.<\/p>\n

Publication Date:<\/strong> August 17, 2026.<\/p>\n

Updated:<\/strong> August 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The death toll from the record-breaking storms and floods that struck the U.S. state of \u201cIndiana\u201d has risen to at least 7 people, after heavy rains caused river levels to rise to historic levels and forced hundreds of residents to leave their homes in the hardest-hit areas. At the same time, \u201cLala\u201d intensified in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"tmauthors":[74],"class_list":{"0":"post-132436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132436"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132438,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132436\/revisions\/132438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132436"},{"taxonomy":"tmauthors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/un-news.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tmauthors?post=132436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}