Hurricane Heads for Hawaii as residents rattled by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake and dozens of aftershocks.
Pastor Dale Morgan
Aug 14, 4:12 PM EDT
*
Hurricane Heads for Hawaii as residents rattled by a 5.4 magnitude
earthquake and dozens of aftershocks.*
By JAYMES SONG
Associated Press Writer
HONOLULU (AP) -- Hurricane Flossie roared on course to brush Hawaii's
Big Island on Tuesday hours after guarded residents were rattled by a
5.4 magnitude earthquake and dozens of aftershocks.
Schools closed and shelters opened in anticipation of the hurricane,
which was downgraded to a Category 2 with top sustained winds of 110 mph
and was expected to pass as close as 100 miles from the islands.
Forecasters said it would lash the shores with strong winds, up to 10
inches of rain and waves up to 20 feet.
The earthquake 25 miles south of Hilo on Monday night caused a small
landslide, but there were no reports of injuries or structural damage,
said Tom Brown, a spokesman for Hawaii County Civil Defense.
More than two dozen aftershocks followed, the largest measuring at 3.2
magnitude, said Jim Kauahikaua, scientist in charge at the U.S.
Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency dispatched a 20-person advance
emergency response team to Hawaii, which arrived Monday in hopes of
easing the blow of the storm, spokeswoman Kim Walz said.
"Instead of waiting for an actual disaster and then going in and
providing support, we want to be ready," she said. "We've begun to move
resources into place ahead of time to be prepared."
The team includes specialists in areas of transportation, aviation,
public works and health.
The National Weather Service placed the Big Island under a hurricane
watch and a tropical storm warning because of the storm, which was
supposed to affect the island through Wednesday. A flash flood watch was
also issued for the island.
While Flossie stirred up the Pacific, Tropical Storm Dean formed Tuesday
in the open Atlantic, but it was nearly 1,500 miles east of the Lesser
Antilles in the Caribbean. By late morning, it had top sustained wind of
40 mph, just above the threshold to be a named storm.
Hawaii Gov. Linda Lingle signed an emergency disaster proclamation,
which activates the National Guard. Hawaii Island Mayor Harry Kim also
declared a state of emergency Monday as a precaution.
The Big Island is largely rural, with about 150,000 people, and most
live in the west or northeast, not the southern portion expected to be
hit hardest by the hurricane. Other islands are expected to get much
less wind and rain.
At 2 p.m. EDT, Flossie was about 190 miles south-southeast of Hilo and
370 miles southeast of Honolulu, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center
said. The storm was moving west-northwest at about 11 mph.
Hurricane-force wind of at least 74 mph extended outward up to 40 miles
from the center of the storm, while tropical storm force wind of at
least 39 mph extend outward up to 145 miles.
Meteorologists cautioned that even a slight change of course could bring
the storm closer to land.
"This is too close for comfort," said National Guard Maj. Gen. Robert
Lee, the state adjutant general.
The last time a hurricane hit Hawaii was 1992, when Iniki ravaged Kauai,
killing six people and causing $2.5 billion in damage.
In the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Dean was about halfway across the ocean
from Africa. At 11 a.m., it had sustained wind of 40 mph, and was moving
west at about 23 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center in
Miami. Dean was moving over increasingly warmer water, where conditions
could create a favorable environment for intensification into a
hurricane by Friday, but forecasters said it was too early to tell where
Dean will go.
Hurricane forecasters also warned that storms moving over the
south-central Gulf of Mexico were getting better organized and could
soon develop into the season's fifth tropical depression. Reconnaissance
aircraft were scheduled to check the area later in the afternoon if needed.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he was sending emergency vehicles and
personnel to South Texas in advance the system that threatened to bring
heavy rains to an already sodden region.
Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. In May, forecasters said
the Hawaiian Islands and the rest of the central Pacific faced a
slightly below-average hurricane season, with just two or three tropical
cyclones expected because of lower sea surface temperatures.
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On the Net:
Central Pacific Hurricane Center: http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/cphc/
National Hurricane Center: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/