Strong winds and heavy rain lashed Hawaii early Friday as a rare pair of hurricanes took aim at the holiday paradise, triggering dangerous storm surges, cutting power and downing trees.
Big Island, the largest and most southerly of the volcanic island chain, steeled itself for the imminent arrival of Iselle, which was downgraded to a tropical storm just as it was about to make landfall, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) said.
In an unusual development, Iselle was being trailed by another, stronger storm, the category three Hurricane Julio, which was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 miles (195 kilometers) per hour.
The eye of Tropical Storm Iselle was still 50 miles from Hilo, on the Big Island, but that did not stop it unleashing ferocious wind and rain, with local media reporting trees had been thrown over and power outages.
Authorities took no chances, telling people to stay indoors, shuttering all non-emergency public facilities and sending employees home from work early. Schools were being designated as shelters in the event of emergency evacuations.
Rain fell on the wind-turbine dotted arid northwest of Maui island, where locals say it almost never rains, and gusts were picking up markedly.
The second largest Hawaiian island, Maui lies directly north of the Big Island and its 150,000 residents annually welcome 2.5 million tourists.
Even the public beaches closed down, although sun seekers jumped the waves, ignoring red flag warnings of hidden riptides.
Maui authorities banned dive and snorkel boats from setting out to popular areas, including the unspoiled half-sunk crescent-shaped Molokini crater famed for its undersea coral reef.
Some hotels and residential complexes closed their pristine pools, and disappointed guests found they could not rent boogie boards or paddleboards to brave the swelling waters of the Pacific Ocean.
“In 22 years here, I’ve never seen anything of this magnitude,” store owner Tim White told AFP. “Yesterday, some people were even scrambling to get out early ahead of the storms.”
– Rush on supermarkets –
Iselle may have been downgraded, but it was still blowing sustained winds near 70 miles per hour, CPHC forecasters said in their latest update, adding it was expected to further weaken over the next two days.
Residents and tourists, confined to their homes and plush hotels, took to social networking sites to describe how the storm was impacting them.
“Wind is getting kinda freaky. shutting down my reserve power now. stay safe everyone,” wrote @DeniseLaitinen on Twitter.
Hours before Iselle’s impact, Island Air announced it was cancelling all its inter-island flights from late Thursday and on Friday. Hawaiian Airlines also dropped late Thursday connections, while United Airlines and US Air snapped links with mainland Los Angeles and Phoenix.
“We all need to stay alert, pay attention, and work with the emergency management agencies across the state,” Governor Neil Abercrombie told a press conference.
Julio, the fourth major hurricane of the Eastern Pacific season, was about 1,000 miles east of Hilo, CPHC said. It was forecast to brush close to the islands.
As the twin storms fast approached, long lines formed at local supermarkets, as residents and vacationers rushed to stock up on water, bread and batteries to see them through the next few hours and days.
State authorities warned that price gougers would be severely punished.