When a major storm passes through Oʻahu, the cleanup doesn’t end when the rain stops. Heavy rain and strong winds can leave yards, commercial properties, and landscaped areas dealing with fallen branches, standing water, damaged plants, clogged drains, and soil erosion.
Once hurricane Hawaii conditions are safe, taking care of these problems quickly can help prevent additional damage and get your property back to normal.
Here are some of the most important things to check around your property after a storm.
1. Start With a Safety Check
Before you start picking up branches or clearing debris, take a look around the property for potential hazards.
Strong winds can weaken trees and large branches without bringing them down immediately. Look for cracked limbs, leaning trees, exposed roots, or branches hanging overhead. These can continue to fall even after the storm has passed.
If you see a large tree or branch that looks unstable, keep people and vehicles away from the area until it can be safely addressed.
Also watch for downed power lines or debris near electrical equipment. Never attempt landscaping work around a downed or damaged power line.
2. Clear Fallen Branches and Debris
Once the property is safe, begin removing smaller branches, leaves, palm fronds, and other debris.
Storm debris can quickly pile up around lawns, walkways, parking areas, and drainage systems. Removing it helps restore access to the property while also allowing you to see whether there is additional damage underneath.
For commercial properties and HOAs, quick debris removal is especially important. Fallen branches and vegetation can block sidewalks, parking stalls, entrances, and common areas.
Getting these areas cleared early makes the property safer and helps landscaping crews identify anything else that needs attention.
3. Check Your Drainage
Heavy rain can expose drainage problems that aren’t noticeable during normal Hawaiʻi weather.
Walk around the property and look for standing water, clogged drains, overflowing gutters, and areas where water has carved channels through the soil or landscaping.
Leaves and other storm debris can clog drainage areas and prevent water from moving away from buildings properly.
Standing water should also be addressed as soon as possible. In addition to damaging plants and turf, persistent standing water can create mosquito breeding areas and may be a sign that your property’s drainage needs improvement.
If the same parts of your yard flood every time we get heavy rain, the storm may be showing you where a longer-term drainage solution is needed.
4. Inspect Trees and Plants
Not every damaged plant needs to be removed.
Some trees, shrubs, and tropical plants can recover surprisingly well after heavy rain and wind. Before cutting everything back, inspect plants for broken branches, split stems, exposed roots, and other signs of damage.
Broken or severely damaged branches can usually be pruned, but excessive trimming immediately after a storm can put additional stress on a plant.
Larger trees should receive extra attention. A tree that has started leaning, developed cracks, or experienced significant root exposure may require professional evaluation.
5. Look for Soil Erosion
Heavy Hawaiʻi rain can move a surprising amount of soil in a short period of time, especially on sloped properties.
Check hillsides, planting beds, and areas near walkways or retaining walls for washed-out soil. You may also notice exposed roots or piles of sediment in lower areas of the property.
Simply replacing the soil may not solve the problem if runoff continues to follow the same path during every storm.
Depending on the property, improving drainage, adjusting grading, adding appropriate plants, or using other erosion-control methods may provide a better long-term solution.
6. Give Your Lawn Time to Dry
After several days of rain, you may be ready to mow the lawn as soon as the sun comes back out. It’s usually better to wait.
Mowing saturated turf can compact wet soil, leave deep mower tracks, tear grass instead of cutting it cleanly, and create muddy areas.
Give the lawn enough time to drain and firm up before returning to your normal mowing schedule.
The same applies to heavy equipment. Driving machinery across saturated landscaping can cause damage that takes much longer to repair than simply waiting another day or two.
7. Check Your Irrigation System
After a major rain event, your irrigation system probably doesn’t need to immediately return to its regular schedule.
Turn irrigation off or reduce watering until the soil has had time to dry. Overwatering already saturated soil can stress plants and contribute to root problems.
This is also a good opportunity to inspect sprinkler heads and irrigation lines for storm damage. Fallen branches, erosion, and moving debris can damage exposed components or knock sprinkler heads out of alignment.
8. Make Notes for the Next Storm
One of the best times to prepare for the next storm is immediately after the current one.
Pay attention to where water collected, which drains clogged, which trees lost branches, and which parts of the landscape experienced erosion.
These trouble spots can help you decide what improvements should be made before the next stretch of heavy weather.
Regular tree maintenance, pruning, drainage improvements, irrigation adjustments, and landscape maintenance can all help a property handle future storms more effectively.
Need Help Cleaning Up After the Storm?
Storm cleanup can be a lot to handle, especially when you’re dealing with larger properties, commercial landscaping, or HOA common areas.
Koʻolau Landscaping provides professional landscaping and property maintenance services across Oʻahu. From clearing landscape debris and getting properties back in shape to identifying drainage, erosion, and maintenance issues revealed by heavy rain, our team can help you prepare your landscape for whatever Hawaiʻi weather brings next.
If your property needs attention after the latest round of wind and rain, contact Koʻolau Landscaping to get your landscape back on track.