Hawaii residents rushed to grocery stores to stock up on bottled water, ramen and toilet paper as they faced the threat of heavy rain, flash flooding and high surf from a powerful and erratic hurricane expected to churn close to the islands or directly over them.
On Tuesday night, the National Weather Service announced that Hurricane lane had strengthened to become a Category 5 hurricane, which means that it is likely to cause catastrophic damage with winds 157 mph or above. The hurricane is about 804 kilometers southeast of Honolulu.
The weather service says that in a Category 5 hurricane, a high percentage of framed homes will be destroyed.
Roofs and walls will collapse, and the winds will knock down trees and power pole. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months, and most of an area hit by a Category 5 hurricane will be uninhabitable for weeks or months, the weather service added.
Earlier Tuesday, the weather service issued a hurricane warning for Hawaii island. A hurricane watch was issued for Maui and other smaller islands, meaning tropical storm-force winds, excessive rain and large swells could arrive starting Wednesday.
It’s possible Oahu and Kauai may later be included in a weather service advisory for the hurricane.
Hurricane lane “is forecast to move dangerously close to the main Hawaiian islands as a hurricane later this week, potentially bringing damaging winds and life-threatening flash flooding from heavy rainfall,” the weather service’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center warned as it got closer to the state.
The storm had been moving west but is expected to turn northwest toward the state today. There’s some uncertainty to lane’s path — whether it moves north or south, meteorologist Gavin Shigesato said.
“It is much too early to confidently determine which, if any, of the main Hawaiian islands will be directly impacted by lane,” the weather service said.