Hurricanes Iselle and Julio take aim at Hawaii
As Hurricanes Iselle and Julio headed toward Hawaii, Stan Lawrence boarded up his surf shop in downtown Hilo.
“It’s safer to be closed,” Lawrence said Thursday morning, although the sun was shining. Later, the rain began.
The last time a hurricane hit the state was in 1992, when Iniki veered past the Big Island and pummeled Kauai, killing six people and destroying 1,400 homes.
“Hurricanes are unpredictable,” said Lawrence, who grew up in Santa Monica and moved to Hawaii in the 1970s. “They’re like traveling bombs.”
Iselle, a Category 1 hurricane, was reported to be 90 miles east-southeast of Hilo and moving toward the Big Island at 17 mph. Coastal areas were bracing for heavy rain, wind and flash flooding. Tropical storm conditions were expected to spread to Maui on Thursday night and to Oahu and Kauai today.
Julio, the trailing storm, was expected to hit over the weekend or early next week, according to the National Weather Service. A Category 3 hurricane with maximum winds of 115 mph, Julio was 1,060 miles east of Hilo and moving at 16 mph, the National Hurricane Center said.
Officials warned the public to get ready.
“We’re prepared for an immediate response and we have a recovery plan,” Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie said at a Thursday news conference. “I want to assure everyone on the Big Island, Maui and elsewhere that whatever needs to be done, we’re prepared to do it. Response will be immediate.”
According to the Hawaii Tourism Authority, there are about 94,000 visitors on average on any given day on Oahu, 55,000 on Maui, 41,000 on the Big Island and 25,000 on Kauai.
All beach parks in the state were closed, along with Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island, officials said.
Mary Roblee owns the Ala Kai Bed and Breakfast, about 400 feet from the ocean in Hilo. She expects Iselle and Julio to be “by far the worst” storms she has experienced in her 10 years on the Big Island.
“We’re very worried,” she said. “We are prepared to evacuate if we have to.”