Hurricane Madeline weakened to a tropical storm on Wednesday (August 31) as it advanced toward Hawaii’s Big Island, where residents were bracing for strong winds and rain even as another storm across the country continued its path to Florida, officials said.
Hawaii officials opened shelters and closed offices, schools and roads on Wednesday to prepare for Madeline, which is expected to pass just south of the Big Island.
“We went through this last year, at this point and we had three hurricanes all in a row this point there is only two. So we are better off this year than last but these are more serious, they’re going to be closer and they’re much more strong. So, I think there’s a lot of people paying a lot closer attention to the forecast, the weather people and again you look at the sales we have and that reflects their concern,” said an unnamed store operator.
Madeline, as it weakened with sustained winds of about 70 mph (113 kph) on Wednesday afternoon, was about 75 miles (121 km) southeast of the Big Island, said a Central Pacific Hurricane Center meteorologist.
The tropical storm, before it moves westward out of reach of Hawaii, could dump as much as 15 inches (40 cm) of rain on parts of the Big Island, according to the National Weather Service. The storm already was lashing the island with rain and wind, resulting in some road closures, the official said.
Hurricane Lester, currently a major Category 4 storm, could affect Hawaii over the weekend.
Off the mainland United States, Tropical Storm Hermine, with winds gusting at 45 miles per hour (75 km), was forecast to strengthen as it passed through the Gulf of Mexico before reaching Florida’s northern Gulf Coast Thursday afternoon, and then sweep across northern parts of the state with pounding rains, then northeast along the Atlantic Coast.
As the projected path jogged west, forecasters extended a hurricane watch and tropical storm warning to Destin, in Florida’s Panhandle, and on to the Anclote River north of Tampa.
Florida’s governor declared an emergency on Wednesday ahead of the brewing storm.
On its current path, the system would dump as much as 10 inches (25 cm) of rain on coastal areas of Georgia, which was under a tropical storm watch, and the Carolinas.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2016