Hawaii braces for Douglas to come ashore

HONOLULU — Hawaii prepared for the onslaught of Hurricane Douglas on Sunday, with predictions of high winds, rain and storm surge.

“It’s definitely going to be a triple threat,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Vanessa Almanza.

Rainfall from the storm can be anywhere from 5-15 inches.

Douglas weakened Saturday to a Category 1 hurricane as it approached Hawaii, but officials warned people should not be lulled into complacency. The National Weather Service said Douglas should remain a hurricane as it moves through the islands Sunday.

“Douglas is continuing a gradual, slow, weakening trend, which in itself is good news, but the bad news is that this hurricane is going to come very close to the islands even as it’s weakening,” said Robert Ballard, the science and operations officer at the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. “And we do expect significant impacts.”

The hurricane was packing maximum sustained winds of 90 mph Sunday.

The NWS said parts of Maui would feel the first impacts of Douglas on Sunday morning, followed by Oahu about midday and the islands of Kauai and Niihau in the evening.

“We know that it is weakening as it approaches, but it still will have significant impact on each island,” Hawaii Gov. David Ige said.

State health department officials contacted each of the 625 people who were currently in isolation or quarantine as of Friday because they are either COVID-19 positive or have been in contact with someone who is. Every one of those indicated they would shelter-inplace and not seek refuge at a hurricane shelter.

“That gives a sigh of relief,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.

Hawaii has some of the lowest coronavirus infection rates in the nation, but COVID-19 numbers have been rising in recent weeks. Every day since Thursday, Hawaii has reported record highs of newly confirmed cases, including 73 on Saturday.

President Donald Trump issued an emergency declaration for Hawaii because of the hurricane, directing federal assistance to supplement state and local response efforts.

Hawaiian Airlines canceled all Sunday flights between Hawaii and the U.S. mainland and also between the islands.

Honolulu resident Scott Silva had supplies in hand to weather the storm.

“Just make sure I had enough food, you know, enough extra water, which I usually do anyway, so that’s about it,” he said. “Not expecting too much trouble from this one.”