Lane wanes
But Hawaii still getting a soaking
Hawaii “dodged a major bullet” after Hurricane Lane weakened to a tropical storm over the weekend, said Honolulu mayor Kirk Caldwell — but officials warned Aloha state residents that they shouldn’t breathe easy quite yet.
“We all planned for the very worst and hoped for the best and I think we’re lucky,” Caldwell told reporters during a news conference Friday night.
The storm dumped more than 40 inches of rain in different areas of the island chain over the last several days, sparking flash flood warnings, slick roadways, dangerous surf and landslides. The biggest effects so far have been on transportation and transportation infrastructure, primarily on the Big Island.
Lane was about 145 miles southwest of Honolulu on Saturday morning, with gusts of about 50 miles per hour, the National Weather Service said.
The storm was moving west away from the islands — but it still threatened flash flooding and mudslides.
An estimated 1,100 people were staying at 20 centers set up at schools in Honolulu, but there is still plenty of room for those still worried about the potentially damaging storm, Caldwell said.
Lane was on a slow and unpredictable track earlier this week and had been approaching Hawaii as a Category 3 hurricane until Friday evening, when it weakened to a tropical storm.
While Hawaiians won’t have to face the full force of a hurricane, FEMA administrator Brock Long urged residents to remain vigilant as more rain is forecast in the coming days.
“Don’t let your guard down,” Long said in a phone briefing in Washington. “Tropical storms can be very dangerous and Hawaii is not clear from Tropical Storm Lane.”
Long added that FEMA will continue to coordinate its response efforts, noting they intend to “communicate very closely” with authorities at the state and local levels.