Hurricane Lane threatens Tacoma couple's new property after volcano lava destroyed their last home

TACOMA, Wash. — As flooding spreads in Hawaii - especially the Big Island - people around the Puget Sound with family, or property there watch and wait.

Staff at the Aloha Grill in Renton have been checking the weather or making calls to family when they're not busy.

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"They're praying and I'm praying," said Khadafey Francis, whose family is in Oahu.

"We hope they're OK," said Cathleen John, who has family in both Oahu and on the Big Island of Hawaii.

Hurricane Lane – downgraded to a tropical storm Friday night - is continuing to dump dangerous amounts of rain on Hawaii. Though it's weakening, the storm is moving so slow it has dropped about three feet of rain in parts of the Big Island.

The storm is the second round of stress for people with ties to the Aloha State, hitting just a couple of months after the worst of the Kilauea volcano.

And some people are facing natural disaster threatening their homes again.

One of the cities with the worst flooding is Hilo.

Tom and Sherri Willemin, who live in Tacoma, just bought a house about 10 miles north of Hilo. But they're looking on the bright side.

"Our house - the house we're purchasing is not in a flood plain so that's good news," Tom said.

And they understand the risks of living on the Big Island all too well.

Lava erupting from the Kilauea volcano destroyed their home over Memorial Day weekend.

"We lost about $60,000 worth of stuff," Tom said. They were just in the process of moving in, so it wasn't insured yet. 

Now their new property is getting slammed by rain.

"It's a volcano this week. OK, it's a hurricane next week. There's nothing you can really do about the weather or about the volcano," Tom said.

They're flying to Hilo on Monday and will get to see how their new home weathered the storm.

In the meantime, they're not worrying.

"It's a very resilient culture for sure. Everybody over there just kind of rolls with the punches," Tom said.

Back at the Aloha Grill, the crew has that island mentality, on full display.

"I think God can protect them," Francis said.

Cox Media Group