Hawaii Hurricane Warnings Up As Major Storm Lowell Approaches

(MENAFN- Live Mint) (Bloomberg) -- Hurricane warnings have been issued across Kauai and some other small Hawaiian islands as storm Lowell moves north, invoking memories of the trail of devastation left by Iniki in 1992.

Lowell's top winds reached 115 miles (185 kilometers) per hour, making it Category 3 or major hurricane. It's forecast to track near Hawaii's westernmost islands late Monday before veering away, the US National Hurricane Center said in an advisory. But the storm will dump heavy rain over all the islands, which have been devastated by flooding storms since last winter.

“We expect very heavy rains,” Hawaii's Governor Josh Green said late Sunday local time in a Facebook video.“Make sure everyone takes this seriously, especially on Kauai because on Monday you can expect very heavy rains and it is a holiday.”

While Lowell is forecast to just miss the islands, Green, who declared an emergency last week, said“you never can tell if it is going to turn a little bit so we don't take that for granted.”

Hawaii has had a series of tropical and Kona low storms that have brought torrential rains to the islands since last winter, prompting evacuations, power outages and devastating flooding. In August, Hurricane Lala drifted within miles of hitting the Big Island of Hawaii, while storm Fausto threatened it to the north in July. An unusually high number of five hurricanes or tropical storms have menaced the 50th US state in the past three months.

Just last week it looked like storm Karina was also going to threaten Hawaii from the north, but it has started to break up about 620 miles east-northeast of Kilo, the hurricane center said.

Iniki made landfall in Hawaii, taking a similar track to Lowell, and killed at least six people and caused $6.8 billion of damage, putting it into the top 40 most destructive hurricanes in US history, the National Centers for Environmental Information said.

Lowell's track to the west means its winds and worst rain will be driven straight into Hawaii as it passes. As much as 10 inches (25 centimeters) of rain may fall on Kauai, with some areas getting up to 14 inches.

The Big Island may get as much as 12 inches in some places, while Maui and Oahu could get isolated spots of 8 inches, the hurricane center said.

“This may produce significant flash flooding and mudslides, especially across Kauai county and portions of the Big Island,” Jack Beven, a senior hurricane specialist at the center, wrote in a forecast analysis.

Green said extra personnel, food and high-water rescue vehicles have been moved to Kauai in advance of the storm.

In addition to the rain, surf may build to has high as 30 feet late Monday, said Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami, who also declared an emergency. The county has opened five shelters in partnership with the American Red Cross.

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