Coffee farms on Hawaii Island are facing a slow recovery after Hurricane Lala made landfall on 15 August 2026, right as the harvest season was getting under way. Torrential rain and damaging winds triggered flash flooding, washed out roads and water systems, and briefly cut off several communities.
The hardest-hit areas include the Ka‘u district, Wood Valley, Miloli‘i and Holualoa, where some growers report losing more than 20% of their trees. By 24 August, close to 70 farmers had reported over US$3.2 million in damage across roughly 320 acres of plantings, with almost US$2 million of that on Hawaii Island alone. Several local roasters paused shipments after losing power.
A federal emergency declaration was approved on 25 August, and from 1 September farmers can apply for agricultural relief programmes. Specialists warn that replacing the lost trees will weigh on yields for years to come.
Source: Daily Coffee News