Storm drifts away from Hawaii after ‘almost biblical’ rains
HONOLULU (AP) — A once-powerful hurricane twisted and drifted away from Hawaii, leaving behind heavily saturated ground on the Big Island and many residents on other islands relieved it didn’t wreak more havoc.
Firefighters on the Big Island rescued 39 people from floodwaters Friday through early Saturday as the island grappled with the nearly four feet of rain from Tropical Storm Lane, formerly Hurricane Lane, dumped on the eastern part of the island over the course of three days.
In Honolulu, where the storm deposited only a few inches of rain, shopkeepers removed plywood from their windows and reopened for business.
The National Weather Service canceled all storm warnings for the state.
Preliminary figures from the weather service show that Lane dropped the fourth-highest amount of rain for a hurricane to hit the United States since 1950. Hurricane Harvey, which devastated Texas a year ago, topped the list.
The storm’s outer bands dumped as much as 45 inches on the mostly rural Big Island, measurements showed. The main town of Hilo, population 43,000, was flooded Friday with waist-high water.
“It was almost biblical proportions,” said Kai Kahele, a state senator who represents Hilo. The ground was soggy on Saturday, he said, and it was still raining.
But Hilo is accustomed to rain, he noted. And the Wailuku River, which raged with runoff, has a name that means “destructive water” in Hawaiian. Native Hawaiians who have lived in the area for hundreds of years know how dangerous the river can be, Kahele said.