Kona Low Storm Leaves Roofing Contractors Booked for Weeks Statewide

If your roof took a hit from last weekend's Kona low and you haven't called a contractor yet, the wait could stretch into summer. Roofing companies across Hawai'i reported an immediate surge in emergency calls after the powerful storm swept through over the weekend, and by Thursday, March 19, most offices were either unreachable or already booked solid: when KHON2 called dozens of roofing companies that day, only two answered the phone.

Armon Todd, store manager at Cool Roof Store and LeakMaster Roofing, put it plainly. "It's crazy busy… I'm completely under water… we're backed up at least until mid-April. I know other contractors are backed up three or four months at the least," he said. Some residents were already being told they couldn't get an inspection until the end of April; others were warned the wait could stretch even longer.

The storm wasn't operating on a clean slate. Todd noted that the wet season running since December had already pushed contractors behind schedule before the Kona low arrived. "Between December and now, this has been the wettest season we've had in quite some time, we were backed up before, and this just made it a lot worse," he said. Shifting winds during the storm compounded the problem by exposing new weak points in roofs, producing leaks that hadn't existed before the weekend.

Manuel Madeira of Alakai Services and Roofing described the volume of calls in blunt terms: "We've been super busy because of the storm, flooded with calls, roofs blown off, metal roofs flying off." Alakai's crews have been working late into the night to keep pace, responding to emergency calls from commercial properties in addition to residential homes and dispatching crews to assist on Maui as well.

The official damage count from the City and County of Honolulu Department of Emergency Management stood at just over 200 storm-related reports as of Thursday, with most classified as minor. Contractors cautioned that classification shouldn't breed complacency. Even small damage, they warned, can escalate quickly if wet weather continues, and this season has shown no sign of relenting. Some customers reported being turned away entirely by companies whose crews were hesitant to work in hazardous conditions during and immediately after the storm.

Hawai'i County damage totals were not available as of Thursday's reporting, and the full picture of neighbor-island impact remains incomplete. Anyone waiting on a contractor should document existing damage thoroughly now; with backlogs running three to four months at some companies, conditions on an unrepaired roof could change significantly before a crew arrives.