Hawaii Island’s dance with Mother Nature will continue through the weekend as Hurricane Lester arrives on the heels of Tropical Storm Madeline.
Hawaii Island’s dance with Mother Nature will continue through the weekend as Hurricane Lester arrives on the heels of Tropical Storm Madeline.
Madeline, after drenching windward areas and pushing waves onto roads in Puna, was forecast to pass near South Point on Wednesday evening. It was downgraded from a category 1 hurricane that afternoon.
Kanani Aton, Hawaii County Civil Defense spokeswoman, said the storm still was expected to pose a danger late into the night as it moved past the island.
“We still have the wind field that follows behind,” she said.
It’s possible tropical storm conditions could return Saturday, depending on Lester’s track.
The island remained on the edge of the hurricane’s “cone of uncertainty” Wednesday afternoon, meaning it could pass over the north or east coast, or go so far north that its impacts won’t be felt much, if at all. As with Madeline, the forecast called for a fair amount of watching and waiting.
“We can’t let our guard down once Madeline passes,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Derek Wroe.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Lester was a category 3 hurricane moving west at 14 mph.
It was forecast to weaken to a category 1 hurricane as it passes the island to the north.
“With a track like this so close to the Islands, any small deviation, any small error in your track can mean some pretty big difference in the impact,” Wroe said.
By 5 p.m. Wednesday, Madeline had brought heavy rains to windward areas, elevated surf and sporadic power outages.
Gusts as high as 60 mph were reported near Kohala mountain, according to the weather service. Wind gusts in excess of 55 mph were reported near Waimea, Kawaihae, Waikoloa and South Point.
Winds were forecast to fall below 39 mph for all areas by this morning.
Hawaii Electric Light Co. estimated 3,600 customers lost power throughout Wednesday. As of 1:30 p.m., approximately 235 customers in Honokaa, Kohala, South Hilo, Mountain View, Kurtistown and Hawaiian Paradise Park were without electricity.
Waves reached 18 to 25 feet in Pohoiki and Kapoho on Wednesday afternoon, with 12- to 15-foot waves reported in Hamakua and Hilo.
Rainfall totals of between 3 and 6 inches were reported in windward areas throughout 24 hours.
Large rocks were tossed onto the parking area of Isaac Hale Beach Park, where earlier in the day, police reportedly removed a large crowd of people that gathered. All county parks were closed.
Greg Braun of Kapoho Farm Lots said some roads in Kapoho Vacationland were flooded from ocean surges during high tide.
“The waves are definitely angry and they are pushing the water in,” he said.
Braun said property damage appeared to be superficial and not as extensive as Tropical Storm Iselle in 2014.
Most debris was limited to tables and chairs washed away from underneath raised homes, he said.
Aton said 175 residents were using emergency shelters as of Wednesday afternoon.
Nine people took shelter Tuesday night at Hilo High School, including Donovan Sieb, a 24-year-old Hilo resident. Sieb said he’d been sleeping in a storefront doorway in Downtown Hilo that evening when the police woke him up and asked him to move.
“Initially, I wasn’t even going to come here,” Sieb said Wednesday morning at the shelter. “I was just going to stay the night outside. It was good, though. It’s nice. I was grateful it was here.”
Aaron Bryant, 29, checked into the Hilo High shelter as a precautionary measure. He said his home in Kalapana is essentially a “jungle shack,” and he was unsure how it would fare during a storm.
“This is kind of the best option for me right now,” Bryant said.
At Richardson Ocean Park on Wednesday, lifeguards were shooing away a trickle of residents hoping to take advantage of big surf. Among them were Napahu Lilly, 18, and Hunter Delima, 14, students who had the day off from school. They came to the park after catching a few waves earlier in the morning at Honolii Beach Park.
“From my perspective, I always know it’s not going to be as bad as they say it’s going to be,” Lilly said. “I know they say that so people can prepare for the worst, but it’s usually not as treacherous as they say.”
The storm prompted the closure of Umauma Bridge on Highway 19, forcing motorists to use a detour. Portions of Kamehameha Avenue in Hilo also were closed.
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park closed at noon Wednesday until further notice.
Public schools and 15 charter schools on the island will remain closed today.
Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.