Hurricane Lala weakened to a tropical storm as it swept past Hawaii's Big Island over the weekend, but not before dumping torrential rain, knocking out power to tens of thousands of residents and killing at least one person in a storm-related crash.

Lala made its closest approach to the Big Island Saturday as a Category 1 hurricane before losing strength, according to NBC News. Rain fell at rates of 3 to 5 inches an hour in some areas, with forecasters warning that higher elevations could see as much as 25 inches of rainfall before the system moves on.

Homes destroyed, power out for weeks

More than 100 homes in the southern part of the Big Island were destroyed or damaged, and at least 19 buildings lost their roofs, according to Honolulu Civil Beat. In Naalehu, local officials said two homes were swept away entirely by the intense rainfall. More than 60,000 customers lost power, and Hawaiian Electric warned that some residents in rural parts of the island could remain without electricity for weeks or even months while crews rebuild damaged lines.

One person was killed in a storm-related car crash as the hurricane's winds and rain lashed the island Saturday, per the Associated Press.

State officials had positioned roughly 180 Hawaii National Guard personnel around the islands ahead of the storm, and emergency crews continued welfare checks and cleanup operations into Sunday as Lala moved off to the northwest, weakening further.

Lala is the latest system to test Hawaii's infrastructure this Pacific hurricane season. The near-miss on the Big Island spared the state the catastrophic direct-landfall scenario emergency planners have long warned about, even as this weekend's damage still ranks among the worst the island has seen in recent years.

What's next

With the immediate threat passing, the focus now shifts to power restoration and damage assessments in the hardest-hit communities south of Hilo, where officials are warning residents to stay alert for mudslides and dangerous surf in the storm's wake.