Hurricane Iselle isn't slowing as it nears Hawaii
BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER AND AUDREY MCAVOY
ASSOCIATED PRESS
HONOLULU (AP) -- Weather officials say a hurricane approaching Hawaii won't weaken into a tropical storm before passing over the islands as they had predicted.
Central Pacific Hurricane Center forecasters now say Hurricane Iselle appears to have strengthened and will maintain its speed as it passes the Big Island Thursday night.
Hurricane Julio, meanwhile, has followed closely behind and is expected to pass the islands this weekend.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie has signed an emergency proclamation activating a major disaster fund set aside by the state Legislature.
Residents have been stocking up on supplies such as bottled water and canned meat. Some tourists are changing vacation plans, either by going home early or cancelling trips.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Washington state couple Tracy Black and Chris Kreifels are used to rainy weather but weren't expecting hurricane conditions for their destination wedding in Hawaii.
The couple from Mill Creek, Washington arrived on the Big Island Tuesday ahead of their Saturday wedding to news that two hurricanes are barreling toward the islands.
Hurricane Iselle is expected to hit the Big Island Thursday afternoon, so they were making plans to adjust their outdoor ceremony on a ranch. Hurricane Julio is on track to pass north of islands over the weekend. Black says some guests traveling from the mainland are worried.
The Mauna Kea Beach Hotel says a few guests have been changing their plans, either by going home early, extending their stays or canceling trips all together.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Hawaii residents furiously stocked up on essentials as two hurricanes churned toward the islands, prompting flash flood warnings, closing schools and disrupting travel plans across the islands.
Hurricane Iselle loomed about 600 miles east of the Big Island early Wednesday, spinning at 85 mph. Weather officials predicted it would weaken but said it could strike the city of Hilo Thursday with tropical storm-force winds of about 50 mph.
Hurricane Julio swirled closely behind at about 75 mph. Forecasters expected the storm to strengthen and pass north of the Hawaiian Islands sometime this weekend.
"Hawaii should be more interested now in Hurricane Iselle, which is closer," said Lixion Avlia, senior hurricane forecaster with National Hurricane Center in Miami. He said Hurricane Julio remained too far away to accurately predict its path.
Hawaii has been directly hit by hurricanes only three times since 1950, though the region has had 147 tropical cyclones over that time. The last time Hawaii was hit with a tropical storm or hurricane was in 1992, when Hurricane Iniki killed six people and destroyed more than 1,400 homes in Kauai, said Eric Lau, meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Honolulu.
"We've been lucky so far," he said. "So we just need to really take this threat seriously and make sure everybody is prepared."
Residents have seemed to heed that call this week. A grocery store in the coastal Oahu community of Waianae opened 15 minutes early Tuesday because people were already lined up to buy supplies. Bottled water and cans of Spam and Vienna Sausage flew off the shelves, said Charlie Gustafson, general manager of Tamura's Supermarket.
Judy Castillo of Oahu, meanwhile, pushed a cart with two cases of water and other items from a drug store to her car. "Two storms in a row? It's like, Hello?" she said.
The storms have prompted public schools on the Big Island, Maui, Molokai and Lanai to close Thursday, state education officials said.
For its part, Hawaiian Airlines will waive reservation change fees and fare differences for passengers who need to alter travel plans because of the storms. The airline said fees will be waived for those who are ticketed to travel Thursday and Friday. They will be allowed to change reservations for flights through Aug. 12.
Chris Pruett of Waikiki was anticipating the silver lining that comes from bad weather: good waves.
"We're just getting water and preparing ourselves, too, because it could be bad," he said. "Of course we're not looking for a storm ... but it tends to generate good waves."
The clustered storms are rare but not unexpected in years with a developing El Nino, a change in ocean temperature that affects weather around the world.
In the Atlantic Ocean, Tropical Storm Bertha continues to weaken as it moves north, posing no direct threat to the U.S. East Coast. The storm's maximum sustained winds decreased to near 50 mph Tuesday evening with even more weakening expected over the next two days.
On Sunday, the storm buffeted parts of the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos with rain and gusty winds, after passing over the Dominican Republic. Earlier, it dumped rain on Puerto Rico.
Ahead of this year's hurricane season, weather officials warned that the wide swath of the Pacific Ocean that includes Hawaii could see four to seven tropical cyclones this year.
In preparation, some people in Hawaii are making sure to vote early in the primary elections, which are Saturday. The elections include several marquee races, including primaries for U.S. Senate, governor and a U.S. House seat covering urban Honolulu.
Associated Press Writers Doug Esser in Seattle and Oskar Garcia in Honolulu contributed to this report.
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