Hurricane brings rare watches, warnings to Hawaii

The threat of Hurricane Lane does not deter NY visitors, Leo Wahl, 7, mom, Valerie Wahl and Ian Walh, 9, from strolling along the ocean near the Hilton Hawaiian Village as Hurricane Lane approaches Waikiki Beach on Thursday, August 23, 2018.

Hurricane warnings are in effect for Hawaii County, while hurricane watches are in effect for Maui County and Oahu.

Hurricane conditions are possible in Hawaii later this week.

Puaoi said the last time her family boarded up the windows of their home was in 1992 during Hurricane Iniki.

Iniki made landfall on Kauai on September 11, 1992, after making a sharp turn to the north-northeast over the course of the previous two days.

The hurricane, which briefly reached the highest category of five overnight, still has the potential to be highly destructive as a category four with sustained winds of up to 249 km/h.

All public and charter schools in the two counties will be closed Wednesday until further notice, the Hawaii State Department of Education said.

In the event of outages, Hawaii’s power company, Hawaiian Electric Co, will largely be in charge of restoring power, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Brock Long told reporters on Friday, adding that the company is well prepared to fix any problems to the energy grid.

Unlike Florida or Texas, where residents can get in their cars and drive hundreds of miles to safety, people in Hawaii are confined to the islands and can’t outrun the powerful winds and driving rain.

“It’s a strong and unsafe storm- make sure to listen to your community’s emergency managers and stay prepared and safe”, said Lisa Bucci, a scientist on NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter.

There’s uncertainty to Lane’s path, said meteorologist Gavin Shigesato. Lane is making a northerly turn toward the Hawaiian Islands, increasing wind and weather impacts to the islands through the rest of the week – all islands are now under a hurricane watch or warning.

The storm could potentially bring “damaging winds and life-threatening flash flooding from heavy rainfall” to the islands, the Hurricane Center warned.

Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim declared a state of emergency on the Big Island effective Tuesday morning.

The storm was moving westward at 10 miles per hour (16 km/h) and should continue to move west through Tuesday night.

The storm had been moving west, but it is expected to turn northwest toward the state Wednesday. Forecasters say surf will build to 6 to 12 feet along east shores, with the largest waves along the southeast coast of the Big Island.

The storm devastated Kauai, one of the westernmost Hawaiian Islands.

Residents “rushed to stores to stock up on bottled water, ramen, toilet paper and other supplies” as the storm neared, The Associated Press reports.