Heavy rains pound Hawaii

Torrential rains pummelled Hawaii yesterday as Hurricane Lane closed in on the island state, triggering land slides and “catastrophic flooding,” US weather authorities said. In its 1200 GMT bulletin, the Honolulu-based branch of the National Weather Service said the now Category Three hurricane was packing winds in excess of 120 miles per hour (195 kilometres per hour).

Currently located some 200 miles south of the state capital Honolulu, Hurricane Lane’s centre was forecast to track over or “dangerously close” to parts of the main Hawaiian islands later yesterday into the night. The archipelago’s Big Island was meanwhile deluged with “catastrophic flooding,” the NWS said.

Over two feet of rain have already fallen at several locations on the windward side of the Big Island, the National Hurricane Centre said, with 30 to 40 inches possible over some areas throughout the state. Emergency teams have set up 16 evacuation centres, with a further 19 due to open later as President Donald Trump, who has declared a state of emergency, urged Hawaiians to hunker down and prepare for the worst.