HILO (KHON2) -- The clean-up continues on the Big Island following a long, wet day that flooded roads and made it difficult for people around the island to get around.
High winds also pounded the island, knocking down tree branches onto power lines - leaving thousands in the dark from Kohala to Ka'u. But it was the relentless rain that did the most damage.
"We had a lot of rain, had a lot of wind, a lot of branches came down," Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth said. "A lot of roads got closed. We had to close some facilities. We opened up some shelters but things are starting to come back into play. Water is draining and we're into recovery mode now."
The rain led to some flooding, particularly near Na'alehu on Mamalahoa Highway that caused school closures Monday morning.
"There's still some roads that are closed. I know Kaawa Flats down in Ka'u that's impassible right now. So I know that Naalehu Elementary and Kau High School I believe they are closed today. Also, I heard Volcano School is closed," Mayor Roth said. "As far as the flooding, not too much that we're seeing right now but we're looking around and I know our crews for public works, HECO, all of those guys, work through the night so there's still reports coming in."
Crews were out overnight and will continue Monday to clean up. Mayor Roth is also asking residents to let the county know about any damage to their property.
"Right now we're going into our damage assessments. I was just checking with the parks, I know that they're going to be looking to see what parks we can reopen. We're asking the public to fill out the damage assessment forms at our website hawaiicounty.gov or to call into Civil Defense in the next couple of days. They'll be going out and looking at the damage that people report."
There is little rest as Hurricane Gilma and Tropical Storm Hector loom in the Eastern Pacific.
"Generally when a hurricane passes the 140 longitude line we activate our Civil Defense. We've already been activated. Looking at that crossing probably in the next day or so. We're still prepared hoping that dissipates before it gets to the islands."