Hawaii dealing with back-to-back storms
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TROPICAL Storm Iselle battered Hawaii with driving winds and rising surf yesterday, knocking down trees and causing power outages, the first of two major storms due to hit the archipelago, as the more powerful Hurricane Julio gathered steam behind it.
More than 1,200 people flocked to evacuation shelters across the Big Island, according to County of Hawaii Civil Defense, as heavy rains and strong winds pummeled areas of East Hawaii from the Puna area to the town of Hilo.
Hawaii Electric Light Company had 5,000 customers without power, mostly in East Hawaii, a Hawaii County official said.
With its eye still about 80 kilometers south of Hilo, on the Big island, Iselle had weakened from a hurricane to a tropical storm, packing maximum sustained winds near 110 kilometers per hour, with higher gusts, the US Central Pacific Hurricane Center said about an hour before midnight on Thursday.
High surf
Central Pacific Hurricane Center meteorologist Tom Evans had said the storm could bring waves of up to 8 meters on southeast-facing shores on the Big Island, before passing south of the state’s smaller islands.
“We can still see that high surf on the southeast-facing shore of the Big Island,” Evans said.
Farther east, Hurricane Julio had gained momentum and was expected to pass just north of Hawaii by late Monday, Evans said.
That hurricane was upgraded late on Thursday to a Category 3 storm, with maximum sustained winds increasing to near 195kph, the National Hurricane Center said. It was moving west-northwest at 26kph and was expected to weaken through today.
In anticipation of the rare back-to-back storms, Hawaii residents scrambled to stock up on supplies as state officials warned of the potential for flash floods, mudslides and power outages.
Real rough time
Governor Neil Abercrombie signed an emergency proclamation freeing up funds and resources and authorities advised residents to prepare seven-day disaster supply kits and cautioned them against driving except in an emergency.
“Everybody knows that a real rough time is coming,” Abercrombie told reporters.
Hawaii’s schools were due to close yesterday, but authorities planned to keep airports open so planes could land in an emergency, although some airlines had canceled flights, officials said. Shopping malls on Oahu would also be closed.
Preparations for a primary election scheduled for today continued, officials said, but added they would reassess how to proceed after Iselle hits.
On the Big Island, a downpour soaked customers who dashed from cars to the Sunshine True Value Hardware store in Kapaau only to discover shelves already picked clean of batteries, flashlights, duct tape and plywood.
Sales clerk Caryl Lindamood tried to stay cheerful.
“Mother Nature sure does like to stir things up for us, doesn’t she,” said she.
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