Hurricane Emilia Skirts Hawaii; Winds Up to 165 M.P.H. Reported

Hurricane Emilia skirted the Hawaiian Island chain Thursday, bringing a five-foot-high surf to Waikiki Beach.

The storm had weakened slightly, but still had maximum winds of 135 m.p.h. and gusts to 165 m.p.h., the National Weather Service reported. On Wednesday, the storm’s winds were 160 m.p.h. with gusts recorded at 195 m.p.h., the strongest on record for this area of the Pacific.

The center of the storm was 280 miles southwest of Hilo, on the island of Hawaii, moving northwesterly at 12 m.p.h. after a slight jog toward the north brought it closer to the islands than earlier predicted, forecasters said.

Gale-force winds extended 140 miles out from the center. If the storm continues that track, its center would move 230 miles south-southwest of Honolulu, said Tom Heffner, lead forecaster at the weather service.

“But you can never rule out that Mother Nature may change her mind. There’s always the chance that it can turn northward or that something unexpected can happen,” forecaster Glenn Trapp said.

Civil Defense officials closed six beach parks on the southeast coast of the island of Hawaii and considered closing others.

Brisk sales of water, batteries, flashlights and other hurricane-related supplies were reported at stores across the state.

In September, 1992, Hurricane Iniki brushed Oahu and then ran straight over the island of Kauai with 150 m.p.h. winds, killing seven people, injuring 100 and causing $1.8 billion in damage.

Meanwhile, the remnants of a tropical depression that made landfall in the Carolinas on Wednesday continued generating showers and thunderstorms Thursday across sections of the central Atlantic states as it moved northward.

Flash flood watches were posted for sections of northern West Virginia and western and southwestern Pennsylvania, the weather service reported.

Unlike Tropical Storm Alberto, which caused flooding in Georgia, the remnants of this tropical depression were expected to move quickly to the north and spread showers and thunderstorms across the Northeast.