Tourists in Hawaii who had been planning an escape to a sunny island paradise were instead hit with the threat of back-to-back hurricanes, but they’re making the best of their vacations.
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Hawaii Volcanoes National Park opened some areas Thursday as Hurricane Madeline passed.
A hurricane warning and flash flood watch were issued for Hawaii Island, and a tropical storm watch was posted for Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Kahoolawe.
Julie Harrison said she was a little nervous the hurricanes would ruin her trip to the Big Island but she made a decision to come regardless.
“You can rebuild a home, you can rebuild property, you cannot rebuild a life”, Scott said at a news conference Thursday afternoon, adding that “we are going to see a lot of flooding”.
Maui County officials are bracing for possible impacts from Hurricane Lester, which has strengthened to a major Category 3 storm.
Oahu’s 205 campsites remained open as Lester approached, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell told reporters Friday. But he says campers should get ready for a wet weekend.
Lester is on track to blow by Hawaii on Saturday and Sunday, running north of the island chain and parallel to the islands. “Hurricane-force winds extend outward up to 45 miles (75 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds extend outward up to 140 miles (220 km)”. Large waves are expected to pound east-facing shores of major islands.
Flooding problems could be exacerbated in areas that were affected by heavy rainfall from Madeline.
With gale force winds, heavy rains, and storm surf predicted to impact the Hawaiian Islands, the credit union’s decision to close our Maui branches was confirmed as a safety precaution for its members and employees on Maui.
Lester is expected to gradually weaken but remain a hurricane as it passes the islands this weekend. They were among thousands of visitors to Hawaii adjusting their expectations of paradise this week as two hurricanes threatened to hit the islands.
This NOAA satellite image taken Friday, September 02, 2016 at 01:00 AM EDT shows a clear eye associated with Hurricane Lester as it continues to move westward towards Hawaii. A band of showers has moved inland through.
This photo shows a fence broken by storm surge from Tropical Storm Madeline at an oceanfront home in Kapoho, Hawaii, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016. A tropical storm left the Big Island soggy but intact as residents prepared for the. It is expected to weaken further as it moves across waters in the path of Tropical Storm Madeline, which is slowly falling apart as it moves into the colder waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Madeline, about 200 miles east of Hilo and 410 miles south-southeast of Honolulu, was moving west at 12 mph, according to Central Pacific Hurricane Center.
There are no plans to open shelters at this time; however, the county will work with the American Red Cross to open shelters on an as-needed basis.
One business was thinking ahead to Lester as they boarded up windows at Hulakai Store, a surf shop in Hilo, on Wednesday ahead of Madeline.
Hurricane Lester has maintained its strong Category 2 status for days, now packing winds of 100 miles per hour with higher gusts.
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The hurricane center projects the storm to graze South Point on the Big Island, but a direct hit is possible.
