East Island (pictured), a critical wildlife habitat in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, was largely destroyed by Hurricane Walaka.

East Island is a low-lying, uninhabited island located within the French Frigate Shoals, a crescent-shaped atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Situated approximately 550 miles (890 km) northwest of Honolulu, the island is composed primarily of sand and gravel and is part of the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument. Once measuring about one-half mile (800 m) in length and 400 feet (120 m) in width, it covered an area of roughly 11 acres (45,000 m²) before much of it was washed away by Hurricane Walaka in 2018. Despite this loss, a reduced form of the island remains and continues to serve an important ecological function as one of the principal nesting sites in Hawaii for the green sea turtle, supporting over half of all nests within the French Frigate Shoals, and as a pupping and haul-out site for the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. It also provides habitat for multiple ground-nesting seabird species, including albatrosses, shearwaters, and terns.

The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, also known as the Leeward Hawaiian Islands, are a series of islands and atolls located northwest of Kauai and Niʻihau in the Hawaiian island chain. Politically, these islands are part of Honolulu County in the U.S. state of Hawaii, with the exception of Midway Atoll. Midway Atoll is a territory distinct from the State of Hawaii, and is classified as one of the United States Minor Outlying Islands. The United States Census Bureau designates this area, excluding Midway Atoll, as Census Tract 114.98 of Honolulu County. The total land area of these islands is 3.1075 square miles. With the exception of Nīhoa, all these islands lie north of the Tropic of Cancer, making them the only islands in Hawaii situated outside the tropics.

Hurricane Walaka was a powerful tropical cyclone that brought high surf and a storm surge to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Walaka was the nineteenth named storm, twelfth hurricane, eighth major hurricane, and second Category 5 hurricane of the 2018 Pacific hurricane season.