Hurricane bears down on Hawaii
Category 3 hurricane could spawn 20-foot waves, more slides
The storm brings 20 inches of rain to the Big Island, causing flooding and landslides.
HONOLULU — A powerful hurricane unleashed torrents of rain and landslides Thursday that blocked roads on the rural Big Island but didn’t scare tourists away from surfing and swimming at popular Honolulu beaches still preparing get pummeled by the erratic storm.
Employees of the Sheraton Waikiki resort on the famed beach filled up sandbags as shuttered stores stacked them against the bottom of their glass windows to prepare for heavy rain, flash flooding and damaging surf on Oahu, the most populated island.
Significant harm possible
Hurricane Lane already lashed the Big Island with nearly 20 inches of rain in nearly 24 hours and was moving closer to Hawaii, a shift that will put the Big Island and Maui “in the thick” of the storm, National Weather Service meteorologist Melissa Dye said. The agency says the storm has weakened to a Category 3 but can still cause major damage.
The hurricane, with winds from 111 to 129 mph, was expected to move close to or over portions of the main islands later Thursday or Friday, bringing dangerous surf of 20 feet and a storm surge of up to 4 feet, forecasters said.
Lane was not projected to make a direct hit on the islands, but officials warned that even a lesser blow could do significant harm. Some areas could see up to 30 inches of rain.
“Rain has been nonstop for the last half hour or so, and winds are just starting to pick up,” said Pablo Akira Beimler, who lives on the coast in Honokaa on the Big Island. “Our usually quiet stream is raging right now.”
Beimler, who posted videos of trees being blown sideways, said staying put is about the only choice he has. The road to Hilo was cut off due to landslides, he said.
“We essentially have one way in and out of our towns so sheltering in place is the priority,” Beimler said in a Twitter message.
Roughly 200 miles away on Oahu, Elisabeth Brinson was still watching surfers from her balcony on the ninth floor of the Hawaiian Hilton Village in Waikiki, where she will ride out the storm.
“I don’t think we’re in too much trouble as far as flooding where we are now,” said the native of the United Kingdom now living in Denver.
Hotel staff left a notice that the rooms will still have water and phone service, and a backup generator will power one elevator per building.
Brinson said many shops were closed, and those still open were frantic with people buying food, beer and water to take back to their rooms.
“We knew it was coming, so I tried to just cram as much as I could into the last few days in anticipation so we could cross things off of our list,” said Brinson. “You can’t really do much about the weather.”
Hotels in preparation mode
Hawaii’s biggest hotels are confident they can keep their guests safe as long as they stay inside, said Mufi Hannemann, CEO of Hawaii Tourism and Lodging Association.
Members of his association, which include the state’s major hotels, are shifting into high gear with their emergency management plans, he said.
The Marriott Resort Waikiki Beach in Honolulu designated a ballroom on the third floor as a shelter for guests.
“The only concern is those that venture outside of the properties, that would like to hike on a day like this or who would like to still go into the ocean and see what it’s like to take a swim or surf in these kind of waters,” Hannemann said.