Hurricane Lowell Batters Hawaii With 24 Inches of Rain as 80 mph Gusts Hit Kauai
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Sep 8
Hurricane Lowell Batters Hawaii With 24 Inches of Rain as 80 mph Gusts Hit Kauai
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Sep 8
Summary
Kauai and Niihau remained under a hurricane warning Tuesday as Lowell lashed Hawaii’s western islands with damaging winds and heavy rain, while Oahu—home to nearly 1 million people—was under a tropical storm warning.
80 mph gusts and sustained winds just above 50 mph were recorded on Kauai, and tropical-storm-force winds stretched nearly 200 miles even as the storm’s center passed west of the islands and began moving away.
24 inches of rain could fall in parts of Kauai, with the National Weather Service warning of flooding, mudslides, tornadoes and dangerous surf through at least Tuesday morning and possibly all day.
Josh Green closed schools and government offices on Kauai, Niihau and Oahu ahead of the storm, which had already knocked out power to much of Kauai earlier Tuesday.
Last month’s Tropical Storm Lala washed away about 100 homes in Hawaii, underscoring the islands’ vulnerability as Lowell was forecast to weaken in coming days.