The National Weather Service reported at about 2 p.m. Saturday that Tropical Storm Darby had come ashore in Ka‘u.
The National Weather Service reported at about 2 p.m. Saturday that Tropical Storm Darby had come ashore in Ka‘u.
By that time, Darby was clinging to tropical storm status with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, nowhere near the impact Tropical Storm Iselle had when it devastated portions of lower Puna and Ka‘u with winds just below hurricane strength in August 2014.
“Maybe it’s the eye of the storm,” Julia Neal, publisher of The Ka‘u Calendar, said at about 3 p.m. “… So far, there’s been some thunder in the distance and some on-and-off drizzle. But nothing like dancing in the Hilo rain. But (forecasts) also noted that the worst of the storm is behind the eye, so maybe that’s coming later.”
Hawaii County Civil Defense said in its 4 p.m. update that Darby’s “poorly-defined center” was forecast to pass over the Big Island on Saturday. A spokesman at Civil Defense’s Hilo headquarters said there were no reports of damage at 4:30 p.m.
By 5 p.m., Darby was moving over the southwestern slopes of Mauna Loa, about 25 miles south-southeast of Kailua-Kona and 55 miles west-southwest of Hilo, with maximum sustained winds still at 40 mph.
The storm itself was moving west at 10 mph, with tropical storm-force winds extending outward up to 70 miles from Darby’s center.
A tropical storm warning was issued for the entire state at that time, and the forecast was for Darby to weaken slightly in the next 48 hours.
Tropical storm-force winds were expected to pass through the Big Island on Saturday night and into Maui County on Saturday night and today, over Oahu today and tonight, and over Kauai County tonight and Monday.
High surf from the storm was expected to impact the islands at least through the day with swells slowly diminishing afterward.
NWS said the storm could drench some island locations with total rainfall of 8 to 12 inches, with a possibility of 15 inches in isolated areas and warned the rains could produce life-threatening flash floods and landslides.
The front outer band of the storm dropped some serious wetness on the Big Island — mostly during the early morning hours Saturday — before the main part of the storm hit. In the 24-hour period ending at 4:45 p.m., Waiakea Uka received 3.64 inches of rainfall, with Mountain View getting 3.59 inches, Waimea’s gauge measuring 3.56 inches of rainfall, Honokaa reporting 3.07 inches, Laupahoehoe 2.19 inches and Hilo International Airport 1.67 inches. Some upslope locations were even wetter, with Kawainui Stream receiving 6.34 inches and Kahua Ranch with 4.76 inches.
According to the Hawaii Red Cross, 109 people stayed overnight Friday in Big Island shelters and three people overnighted in Maui shelters. Red Cross opened shelters on Lanai and Molokai at 11 a.m. Saturday.
Yukie Ohashi, shelter volunteer coordinator for the Big Island, said Saturday afternoon the Keaau High School and Hilo High School shelters hosted the bulk of the overnight stays. And although the storm landed first in Ka‘u, nobody stayed overnight Friday at Ka‘u High School.
Ohashi said six people remained at Hilo High on Saturday afternoon and two more were expected to arrive, but added, “It’s too early to tell. There may be more coming.”