Hurricane Nolo skirts Hawaii but could still unleash powerful winds, flash flooding

HILO, Hawaii — Hurricane Nolo just skirted the Hawaiian Islands as it gained intensity Saturday, but officials said it still posed a risk for flash floods, dangerous winds and extreme surf in areas recovering from previous storms.

Nolo was churning slowly south of Hawaii’s Big Island with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph. The storm’s center was about 160 miles south-southwest of Hawaii’s southernmost point, and it was forecast to strengthen into a major hurricane late Sunday and early Monday while traveling westward to the south of the islands.

A hurricane watch was canceled, and direct landfall by the storm’s center was not expected. But forecasters said its outer bands could cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides, with parts of the Big Island expected to see rainfall totals up to 20 inches. Heavy rainfall also was expected on Hawaii’s other islands.

“Don’t venture out if you don’t have to into the dangerous flooding environment, but also high winds. We can have trees and power lines down,” Michael Brennan, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said Friday.

The humanitarian nonprofit group CORE and other partners spent the week packing and shipping supplies such as camp stoves and hygiene products by air cargo from Oahu to the Big Island for a community relief hub that has been active since August’s Hurricane Lala.

Residents are still recovering from Lala, which produced heavy rain and winds strong enough to sweep about 100 homes off their foundations on the Big Island.

Boarded-up shops, canceled events

About a dozen people were in the water Saturday morning at Carlsmith Beach Park in Hilo on the Big Island, despite signs saying the strand was closed. Andrea Gill was out for her regular swim before heading back home to hunker down with family.

“I hope it stops just sitting there and moves and goes somewhere else,” Gill said of the slow-moving storm.

Shop owners boarded up businesses and events were canceled.

Gill was holding out hope that the islands might not get the full impact. “We’re used to lots of rain. We’re not used to wind. So it’s always a blessing when we don’t get the wind from the hurricane,” she said.

President Trump approved an emergency declaration for the state on Friday, authorizing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate assistance and provide funding support.

Hawaii officials told residents to put together emergency kits, and the governor issued an emergency proclamation, activating hundreds of Hawaii National Guard members.

Hawaii County officials on the Big Island were urging residents in flood-prone areas to consider taking refuge elsewhere.

Hawaiian Electric, the state’s primary utility, said crews that had been helping restore power in Kauai after this month’s Hurricane Lowell would return to Oahu, Maui and the Big Island in preparation for the coming storm.

The Pacific has been unusually active this season, according to National Weather Service lead forecaster Bob Oravec, with storm activity running above average during what is already the peak of hurricane season. He said that pattern is consistent with El Niño years, when the Pacific often sees more tropical storms and hurricanes.

Hurricane Polo

Meanwhile, Mexico was under the threat of Hurricane Polo as it headed toward the Baja California peninsula after bringing storm conditions to the southwestern coast. Polo was producing maximum sustained winds of 140 mph Saturday, making it a Category 4 hurricane, but was expected to weaken somewhat before making landfall Monday.

One of the towns in Polo’s projected path is San Juanico, a small fishing community on Baja’s Pacific coast where access to basic needs is already fickle.

“Our people are concerned about this event,” said Gloriely Robles Meza, a manager at a small hotel there. “We haven’t faced such a worrying situation in many years.”

The town has had full-time electricity for only a couple of years, and it still experiences frequent outages. Without power, residents can’t refrigerate food or pump water. The closest gas station is so far away that fuel is stored and sold from tanks in the town and frequently runs out if there is high demand.

Robles Meza said the community feels it is left to brace for the storm without the help of authorities.

“We must prepare on our own — each of us protecting our homes and belongings,” she said, adding that she wished officials would preposition heavy machinery for clearing roads, along with emergency generators.

For now, she said, the only plan is to convert the local elementary school into a shelter.

“While this is important, we also have other impacts to consider,” she said, such as what the town will do if it is cut off from help.

San Juanico has experienced late summer storms, but Polo feels different, said Jeffrey Westman, an American who was first drawn to the town’s world-class surf break 40 years ago and owns a property there.

“During the last couple of years, the storms have felt big and strong and scary,” said Westman, 63, who is in Europe now but is concerned for the locals in San Juanico, particularly about their ability to receive food deliveries or reach larger grocery stores if road access is cut off.

Washed-out roads could also block access to the closest medical facility, about 80 minutes away in Ciudad Constitución.

Westman said he is hopeful Polo behaves the way some past storms have, losing intensity before reaching the Baja coastline.

“A lot of times they do start petering out” as they approach, he said. “I’m hoping that’s the case.”

Garcia writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Conn.; Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego; Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H.; and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.